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OUR    D  A  Y, 


A    GIFT   FOR    THE    TIMES 


EDITED    BY   J.  G.  ADAMS. 


••  The  age  of  practice  is  now  at  hand.    The  true  credentials  are  deeds. 
The  genuine  teat  is  performance."  GOODWIN  BARHBT. 


la  better  than  it  once  was,  and  hath  more 
Of  mind  and  freedom  than  it  ever  had." 

FMTTJS. 


BO-STON: 
B.   B.   MUSSEY    &    CO. 

1848. 


BOSTON: 

POINTED  BT  DAMRELL  AND  MOORB, 

No.  52  WasMngton-otreet 


AN  INTRODUCTORY  WORD. 


READER,  —  The  book  into  which  you  are  now  looking  is 
intended  as  an  utterance  —  a  faint  one,  though  it  may  be  — 
of  the  great  heart  of  humanity  at  the  present  time.  It  will 
speak  freely  of  the  moral  movements  of  our  day,  —  peace, 
temperance,  the  reformation  of  the  criminal,  human  free- 
dom, the  abolition  of  the  gallows,  —  and  of  other  indications 
of  human  progress  in  which  the  true  philanthropist  rejoices. 

It  is  not  a  sectarian  book.  The  editor  designed  that  its 
pages  should  speak  the  free  thoughts  of  free  minds ;  minds 
moved  to  utter,  for  the  oppressed  and  abused  of  our  race,  the 
words  of  everlasting  truth  and  right.  Though  sorry  that  he 
has  not  received  contributions  asked  of  some  who  might 
have  spoken  to  good  advantage  here,  he  is  very  thankful  to 
those  who  have  so  freely  condescended  to  honor  these  pages 
with  their  acceptable  gifts.  God  reward  them  in  the  many 
thanks  of  souls  to  whom  their  words  will  be  as  "  the  blessing 
that  maketh  rich." 

Let  me  now  speak  more  freely  in  reference  to  the  fact 
just  noted,  that  the  book  is  not  sectarian.  The  truth  it 
utters  is  that  of  Christianity  ;  not,  however,  of  a  Christianity 
exclusively  confined  to  any  outward  Christian  church  institu- 
tion ;  bnt  of  that  Christianity  now  working  wherever  wrong 
is  assailed,  and  the  rights  of  man  are  proclaimed  and  vindi- 
cated. It  is  an  appeal  to  all  nominal  Christians,  that  they  give 
heed  to  the  great  conflict  of  good  and  evil,  error  and  truth. 


4:  AN   INTRODUCTORY    WORD. 

now  going  on  in  our  world.  Too  many  Christians,  we  have 
reason  to  apprehend,  are  at  fault  here.  They  see  about  all 
the  good  actually  worth  claiming  or  knowing  among  men, 
in  the  church  to  which  they  belong,  or  with  the  sect  whose 
name  they  bear.  They  know  but  little  of  reform  going  on 
among  men,  unless  it  be  effected  in  just  their  way,  and  by 
just  the  means  which  they  may  be  pleased  to  approve. 
And  they  seem  to  suppose,  either  that  all  real  reform  is 
going  on  just  as  they  would  have  it  (though,  indeed,  very 
slow  in  this  way),  or  that  it  is  waiting  till  the  right  time 
comes,  when,  free  from  all  these  illegitimate  pretenders  to 
reformation,  it  may  go  on,  only  in  this  one  way,  unto  per- 
fection. 

Such  discerners  of  the  signs  of  our  times  surely  err  in 
vision.  They  hear  not  the  true  utterance  of  the  present 
hour.  They  are  dreaming  in  the  past,  when  they  should  be 
realizing  in  the  present.  The  conflict  of  truth  and  error  is 
confined  to  no  sect — is  hemmed  in  by  no  denominational 
lines.  It  is  going  on  everywhere  ;  in  the  church  —  away 
from  the  church  —  among  ministers  —  with  the  people. 
Christ  never  came  to  do  his  work  thus  denominationally. 
His  field  is  the  world ;  and  most  blessed  that  sect,  whatever 
it  be,  who  shall  most  heartily  labor  for  the  overthrow  of 
wrong,  and  for  the  triumph  of  the  right  therein.  In  this  wide 
field,  multitudes  of  the  valiant  and  noble-hearted  are  now 
laboring.  They  are  uttering  their  strong  voices  against  evil ; 
and  they  are  heard  by  many  listening  ears,  and  welcomed  by 
many  opening  hearts.  They  are  out  now ;  and  their  trum- 
pet-words are  rising  amid  that  mass  of  reigning  evil  and 
abounding  sin  over  which  the  philanthropist  so  often  sighs, 
and  lifts  up  trusting  hands  to  heaven. 

l<  Where  the  heel  of  hard  Oppression  standeth  on  the  quivering 

heart ; 

Where  Humanity  is  bartered  at  the  auction  or  the  mart ; 
Wheresoti'er  a  chain  is  rusting  into  any  human  right ; 
There  they  loudest  swell  the  conflict ;  hottest  there,  they  wax  the 

fight." 


AN   INTRODUCTORY    WORD.  5 

We  have  such  spirits  in  the  church,  and  out  of  it.  Nor  in 
noisy  strife  or  clamor  do  their  works  of  truth  go  on.  Their 
words  are  spoken  in  the  bye-places  of  evil,  in  the  dark  cor- 
ners of  suffering,  sin,  and  shame  —  words  of  encouragement, 
words  of  hope  and  life  everlasting. 

And  their  words  and  their  works  will  be  mighty  through 
God.  They  must  be;  for  they  are  founded  in  his  unwaver- 
ing truth.  They  will  do  good  in  the  direct  influence  they 
have  exerted  in  the  alleviation  of  human  suffering  —  in  the 
detection  and  exposure  of  wrong  —  in  defence,  illustration, 
and  enforcement  of  the  truth  —  in  taking  hold  on  the  tem- 
porally and  morally  sick  and  infirm,  bound,  crushed,  blinded, 
and  imprisoned,  and  restoring  them  to  life,  liberty,  and  hap- 
piness. They  have  done  such  good.  They  are  still  effect- 
ing it.  And  while  they  labor  thus  in  truth's  holy  name,  it  is 
not  possible  that  such  labor  should  be  unsuccessful. 

They  do  good,  moreover,  in  the  agitations  they  make 
among  the  opinions  and  pretensions  of  mankind.  They  help 
to  prove  what  is  the  commendable,  and  pure,  and  abiding, 
and  what  is  merely  outward  and  illusive  in  the  professions 
and  actions  of  men.  And  this  is  cheering.  Any  honest 
movement  that  thus  sends  up  the  inquiry  to  the  origin  of 
every  creed  or  code,  "  Is  it  of  God,  and  will  it  benefit  man  ?  " 
and  that  would  compel  every  pretender  to  righteousness  to 
vindicate  his  claim  by  corresponding  works  of  justice  and 
of  love,  should  be  hailed  and  encouraged.  Let  not  the  voice 
for  the  right  be  silenced.  Let  the  wrong  be  assailed,  freely 
and  fearlessly  —  no  matter  where  it  shall  entrench  itself  — 
no  matter  how  it  may  pile  up  mountains  of  influence,  or 
fashion,  or  wealth,  or  temporal  greatness  around  it  —  or  how 
dignified  or  sanctimonious  it  may  look  out  on  us  when  we 
dare  to  question  its  authority.  No  matter  whether  it  hold  a 
Bible,  or  a  Declaration  of  Independence,  or  a  state  constitu- 
tion, or  a  slave-whip,  or  a  wine-cup,  or  a  sword,  or  any  other 
sign  of  its  authority  and  power.  If  it  be  wrong,  —  then  is 
heaven's  word  —  then  is  God — then  is  man's  true  soul  — 


6  AN   INTRODUCTORY    WORD. 

then  are  all  the  interests  of  our  race  —  then  are  the  lights 
and  hopes  of  the  present  —  then  are  the  sure  prophecies  of 
good  concerning  the  future,  all,  all  against  it !  And  though 
it  boast  itself,  and  utter  "  great  swelling  words  of  vanity," 
and  defy  the  truthful  armies  of  the  living  God,  it  shall  fall 
beneath  the  conquering  arm  of  omnipotent  Eight,  and  amid 
the  rejoicings  of  a  race  redeemed  !  "  He  that  hath  ears  to 
hear,  let  him  hear." 

It  will  be  perceived  that  the  names  of  the  authors,  at  the 
heads  of  the  articles,  "  Democracy,"  "  Thomas  Clarkson," 
and  "  The  Moving  Spirit  of  Reform,"  have  been  omitted ;  an 
error  in  proof-reading,  occasioned  by  the  absence  of  the 
editor.  The  names  are  given,  however,  in  the  table  of 
Contents, 

T«E  EPITOR. 


CONTENTS. 


P«ge. 
Reform REV.  J.  WESLEY  HANSON,        9 

Reforms  and  Reformers,         .       REV.  MOSES  BALLOU,    .     .    13 
Interested  Opposers  of  Moral  Re- 
forms,       REV.  A.  R.  ABBOTT,    .       .      27 

The  Gallows  shall  be  Cast  Down,  J.  G.  ADAMS,  ...  33 
Night  and  Morning,  .  .  REV.  T.  L.  HARRIS,  .  .  44 
The  Redeemed  Husband,  .  .  MRS.  MARY  A.  LIVERMORE,  47 
The  Reward,  .  .  .  J.  G.  WHITTIER,  .  .  62 

Death  of  N.  P.  Rogers,        .       .    J.  G.  ADAMS,        ...      64 
The  Alleged  Inferiority  of  the  Af- 
rican Race,  ....       REV.  C.  STETSON,      .        .       66 
The  Fugitive  Slave,     .        .       .    REV.  HENRY  BACON,   .        .    77 

A  Glimpse, 79 

Anniversary  Week  in  Boston,  .  J.  G  ADAMS,  ...  83 
To  Frederick  Douglass,  .  .  J.  G.  ADAMS,  .  .  .  106 
The  Criminal,  ....  REV.  CHARLES  SPEAR,  .  108 
A  Prisoner's  Death,  .  .  JAMES  LUMBARD,  .  .  125 
Fourier  and  his  Social  System,  HORACE  GRBELEY,  .  .  128 

A  Prayer, JAMES  LUMBARD,    .        .       147 

The  Beavers,  ....  REV.  THEODORE  PARKER,  148 
Democracy,  .  .  .  .  J.  G.  ADAMI,  .  .  .154 


O  CONTENTS. 

Page. 

A  Demon  to  be  Exorcised,       .       REV.  G.  G.  STRICKLAND,    .  157 

The  Pulpit  and  Popular  Reforms,  REV.  A.  D.  MAYO,  .  .  160 
Thomas  Clarkson,  .  .  .  J.  G.  ADAMS,  .  .  .171 

Christianity,  ....  RKV.  DAY  K.  LEE,  .  188 
Responsibility  of  the  Traffic  in 

Spirits, H.  BALLOT:,  2n,  D.D.,  .  .  191 

The  Hutchinsons,  .  .  .  REV.  A.  HIGHBORN,  .  200 

The  Moving  Spirit  of  Reform,  J.  W.  BROWN,  ESQ.,  .  .  207 

The  Reformer  and  the  Redeemer, 216 

One  Idea, RKV.  W.  R.  G.  MELLEN,  .  219 

Patriotism,  ....  REV.  T.  S.  KING,  .  .  236 

Our  Country,  Right  or  Wrong 240 

The  Dialect  of  Reform,  .  .  REV.  HENRY  BACON,  .  256 

"  Thy  Kingdom  Come,"  .  .  MRS.  S.  C.  E.  MAYO,  .  .  259 

The  Idolatry  of  Party,  .  .  REV.  E.  H.  CHAPIN,  .  260 
God's  Law :  Man's  Interpretation 

of  it, S.  E.  COTTES,  ESQ.,  .  .  266 

"  Thy  Kingdom  Come,"  .  .  REV.  W.  P.  TILDKN,  .  272 

Song  of  Prophecy,  .  .  J.  G.  ADAMS,  .  .  .  278 

A  Sermon  for  Every-day  Life,  •. 279 


OUR    DAY 


REFORM. 

BY   REV.   J.   WESLEY   HANSON. 

I  HEAR  a  tumult  from  the  heaving  sea 

Of  Human  Life.     The  multitudinous  Waves, 

Like  Ocean's  billows,  lift  their  mighty  voices, 

And,  with  a  deep  and  solemn  sound,  they  ask 

A  Change.    The  awful  din  startles  the  ear 

Of  gouty  Sin,  and  scowling,  blear-eyed  Wrong ; 

And  old  Conformities,  with  chattering  teeth, 

Shrink  back  affrighted.    Forms  and  Kites,  and  old 

Observances,  upon  whose  wrinkled  brows 

The  gray  and  grisly  locks  of  Age  are  seen, 

Bend  low,  and  speed  away,  like  ghosts,  before 

This  roar  of  many  voices.    Loud  they  cry : 

:<  Reform !  Reform  ! "    Blind  old  Conservatism, 

Fearing  advance,  looks  timorously  on ; 

And  in  the  distant  sound,  hourly  more  near, 

It  hears  in  low,  deep  thunder-tones :  "  REFORM  ! " 


10  OUK   DAY. 

God  speed  that  day !    The  World's  great  aching  heart 

Is  wildly  throbbing  for  the  issue  and 

Perfection  of  this  prophecy  of  Heaven  ! 

The  Church,  —  God's  holy  Church,  —  arrayed  in  weeds. 

And  weeping  like  a  widow,  moans  "  Reform  ! " 

Within  her  Gothic  piles,  and  stately  temples, 

Wealth  and  magnificence  are  broadly  strown. 

The  golden  light  streams  dimly  in  through  carved 

And  painted  windows ;  and,  with  splendid  hue, 

Sleeps  on  high  pillar  and  gilt  organ-pipe. 

But  low-browed  Cunning  and  red-handed  Sin 

Go  skulking  up  the  cushioned  aisle ;  and,  when 

High  nave  and  choir  are  trembling  with  a  burst 

Of  organ-music,  sharp-set,  keen  eyed  men 

Are  hoarsely  whispering  of  "  Loss  and  Profit," 

"  Bank-stocks,"  and  "  Six-per-cents."  And,  o'er  the  edge 

Of  yonder  desk,  silk-canopied,  there  peers, 

In  sacerdotal  vestments,  one  who  prays 

And  preaches,  but  who  bows  a  willing  knee 

At  Mammon's  gilded  shrine.    Nay,  when  a  storm 

Of  music  sweeps  yon  cloistered  aisle,  the  ear 

May,  in  the  pause  of  anthems,  hear  sick  cries 

For  bread  and  Holy  Truth ;  the  Poor,  who  cry 

In  vain  for  that  which  God  made  free  as  air, 

And,  'neath  the  very  Sanctuary's  eaves, 

They  cry,  and  beg,  and  pray  for  Life  —  unheard. 

And  then  the  World,  —  the  weeping,  bleeding  World,  — 
Where  God's  high  Law  is  rudely  jeered,  and  Might 
And  Strength  make  Right. ;  where  sickly  Poverty, 
Clothed  in  vile  rags,  sits  weeping  by  the  way ; 


EEFOEM.  11 

Where  the  great  highway 's  thronged  by  busy  forms, 
Who,  in  the  rush  and  whirl  for  gain,  see  not, 
Below  the  dust,  poor  Want  weeping  hot  tears 
That  wet  the  soil.     0  Brothers !    Pause  ye  now ! 
And  see  in  Life's  great  chart  how  Law  becomes 
But  the  stern  will  of  Wealth  and  Pride  ;  — how  weak 
And  feeble  men  must  bow  the  knee,  and  sweat 
And  strive  in  vain  to  shake  the  iron  yoke 
From  their  galled,  weary  necks ;  —  how  Poverty 
Must  bend  to  Wealth ;  and  Truth,  with  double  tongue, 
Deal  falsely ;  and  e'en  Virtue,  pure  and  spotless, 
Sell  all  her  good  to  pampered,  bloated  Vice. 
Hear !  —  far  above  the  low,  sweet  prayer  of  Faith, 
And  Piety's  clear  music,  and  the  song 
Of  the  good  angel  Hope,  —  the  scream  of  Sin, 
The  curse  of  Blasphemy,  the  shouts  of  men 
Drunk  with  the  blood  of  souls,  the  roar  and  din 
Of  Vice,  and  Sin,  and  Crime,  and  deadly  Wrong ! 
#  *  *  *  *  * 

But  Light,  like  bright  Aurora's  streakings,  streams 
Along  the  distant  Orient,  and  waves 
Its  golden  banners ;  and,  from  distant  shores, 
We  catch  the  glad,  harmonious  songs  of  men 
Redeemed,  released,  and  clothed  in  the  white  robes 
Of  Freedom  and  of  Light.    Oh !  hear  their  shouts, 
And  list  their  heavy  tramplings !     On  they  come, 
Shaking  the  firm-set  Earth,  which  rocks  beneath 
Their  mighty  footsteps.    Hear  then-  song  !    It  throbs 
With  its  great  burthen,  and  the  trembling  air 


12  OUR   DAY. 

Is  filled  with  anthems  of  triumphal  music. 

Beneath  their  feet  bright  flowers  spring  up,  and  smile 

From  their  blue  eyes ;  and  the  old,  worn-out  Earth 

Renews  her  youth,  and  rustles  sweetest  music 

To  the  mild-answering  Stars,  who  gladly  pour 

From  out  their  golden  urns  a  heavenly  blessing. 

Earth  is  renewed,  and  Man  redeemed  again : 

Great  Right  and  Truth  have  conquered  Wrong  and  Sin  ! 


13 


REFORMS  AND  REFORMERS. 


BT   REV.  MOSBS  BALLOU. 


ALL  true  reforms  must  have  for  their  object 
the  recognition  and  observance  of  the  principles 
of  Christian  truth.  No  reformer  can  hope  to 
succeed,  who  is  unmindful  of  this  great  fact. 
I  assume  here,  of  course,  that  the  purpose  of 
Christ  and  Christianity  is  not  the  mere  granting 
of  an  insurance  policy  ;  but  that  it  embraces,  in 
its  comprehensive  range,  every  thing  that  belongs 
to  the  proper  development  of  man,  or  the  reali- 
zation of  true  human  destiny.  Admitting  this, 
the  work  of  Christ  and  the  work  of  the  re- 
former must  be  one.  The  reformer  must  labor 
in  Christ's  cause,  use  his  weapons,  and  always 
in  his  spirit. 

Christianity,  as  the  great  agent  in  all  true 
reformation,  manifests  three  distinct,  but  co- 
operating elements ;  viz.,  a  destructive,  a  conser- 
vative, and  a  constructive  power.  The  divine 
writers  compare  its  operations  to  the  process  of 


14  OUR   DAY. 

transforming  the  wilderness  and  the  desert  into 
gardens  of  fertility  and  beauty ;  *  recognizing 
clearly  these  three  characteristics. 

As  the  tiller  of  the  soil  drains  the  marsh,  and 
irrigates  the  dry  places ;  levels  the  forest,  clears 
the  ground  of  all  incumbrances,  sows  his  field, 
and  fills  it  with  grain,  and  fruits,  and  flowers ;  so 
shall  the  gospel  carry  on  its  great  reforms,  till 
human  life  becomes  flourishing  like  Eden,  and 
blooming  and  beautiful  as  the  garden  of  the 
Lord. 

1.  It  hath  a  destructive  power. 

I  have  no  hesitation  in  assuming  the  position, 
that  the  first  work  of  the  reformer  is  to  destroy, 
however  much  the  timorous  or  kind-hearted  may 
shrink  from  the  declaration.  The  language  of 
Christ  is  —  "  Every  plant  which  my  heavenly 
Father  hath  not  planted  shall  be  rooted  up ;  "  t 
and  it  is  a  divine  sanction,  from  the  highest 
authority,  of  the  ground  I  have  taken.  If  the 
soil  to  be  tilled  was  free  from  all  incumbrances,  no 
such  work  would  be  necessary,  —  no  implement 
of  destruction  would  be  wanted.  The  labor  of 
the  reformer  would  be  wholly  constructive. 

The  reality,  however,  is  far  otherwise.  The 
ground  is  already  occupied.  It  contains  much 

*  Isa.  xirv,  1,  2,  7  ;  and  li.  3.  t  Matt.  xv.  13. 


REFORMS    AND    REFORMERS.  15 

that  must  be  removed  in  the  outset.  The  tall 
old  trees  must  be  hewn  down,  however  venera- 
ble the  age  of  centuries  may  have  made  them. 
Their  very  roots  must  be  torn  from  the  earth,  to 
give  place  for  better  productions.  Rocks  must 
be  removed,  and  weeds,  that  are  robbing  the  soil 
of  its  nutriment,  swept  away.  The  plough  and 
the  harrow  must  pass  over,  to  break  up,  mellow, 
and  fit  it  for  use.  All  this  must  be  done  before 
the  husbandman  can  hope  to  succeed  in  his  pur- 
poses. The  axe  is  his  first  implement;  and  his 
first  work,  destruction. 

Like  this  is  all  true  reform,  in  its  incipient 
stages.  To  destroy  is  its  first  work.  In  religion 
it  is  so.  The  minds  and  hearts  of  men  are  not 
a  mere  unoccupied  blank,  on  which  a  new  creed 
can  be  written,  or  a  new  likeness  imprinted. 
Those  minds  are  already  filled  with  false  notions. 
Those  hearts  are  choked  up  with  errors.  And 
these  must  be  destroyed,  before  truth  can  find  a 
lodging-place  within  them. 

Whoever  reads  the  history  of  Christ  will 
find  this  fact  fully  confirmed  in  his  practice.  In 
the  famous  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  he  attacks 
directly  and  pointedly  the  old  doctrinal  errors  of 
the  religious  Jews.  Against  their  false  notions, 
he  wields  his  battle-axe ;  and,  with  a  strong 
arm,  sweeps  away  the  principles  of  the  popular 


16  OUR    DAY. 

faith.  He  knew  very  well  that  these  could  not 
exist  in  connection  with  his  truth,  and  his  first 
work  was  to  root  them  up.  The  true  reformer 
in  religion  will  find  it  necessary  to  copy  his 
example.  It  is  as  essential  now,  as  it  was  then, 
that  the  axe,  the  fire,  and  the  plough,  should 
go  before  the  hand  that  sows. 

It  is  so  in  morals.  Impure  passions,  unholy 
desires,  and,  above  all,  vile  and  degrading  habits, 
are  already  in  possession  of  the  hearts  of  men ; 
and  the  hand  that  would  reform  must  first  purge 
these  out.  The  good  harvest  must  not  be  ex- 
pected from  the  wilderness.  Weeds  must  be 
destroyed  before  flowers  will  grow.  It  is  the 
same  in  social  improvements.  Society  already 
has  its  customs,  habits,  and  institutions.  That 
these  need  remodelling,  no  one  can  doubt  who 
has  ever  felt,  or  even  witnessed,  the  curses  that 
some  of  them  have  inflicted.  There  is  much, 
therefore,  to  be  torn  down  by  the  hand  of  the 
true  reformer.  Savage  laws,  barbarous  treat- 
ment of  offenders,  slave  institutions,  false  codes 
of  honor  and  respectability,  and  all  convention- 
alities that  defy  the  mandates  of  God,  must  be 
done  away ;  and  he  who  would  attempt  this 
must  not  fear  to  go  manfully  to  work  with  the 
implements  of  destruction.  The  cause  of  truth, 


REFORMS    AND    REFORMERS.  17 

the  welfare  of  society,  and  the  glory  of  God,  all 
demand  it. 

But  this,  however  important,  is  not  alL  Christ- 
ianity hath  also, 

2.  A  conservative  power. 

Its  work  is  not  merely  to  destroy.  This  alone 
were  an  ignoble  task  indeed.  It  is  always  the 
work  of  an  inferior  mind.  No  good  man  would 
stoop  to  it.  But  when  the  instrument  of  destruc- 
tion becomes  absolutely  necessary,  —  when  it  is 
used  only  to  prepare  the  way  for  a  good  not 
attainable  without,  —  it  becomes  at  once  elevated 
and  ennobled ;  and  the  good  man  seizes  upon  it 
as  freely  as  the  wise  surgeon  grasps  his  knife. 
Such  is  the  character  and  operation  of  this  ele- 
ment in  Christianity. 

Its  destructive  power  acts  not  as  an  end,  but 
as  a  means.  It  hews  down,  only  that  it  may 
build  up  anew ;  destroys,  only  that  it  may  finally 
save.  In  this  process,  it  is  and  must  be  emi- 
nently conservative.  In  converting  the  wilder- 
ness and  waste  places  into  a  garden  of  fertility 
and  beauty,  the  judicious  laborer  often  finds  it 
necessary  to  interpose  a  preserving  hand.  Many 
a  natural  scene  would  be  left  in  pristine  loveli- 
ness ;  many  a  tree,  and  shrub,  and  flower,  he 
would  save,  either  for  ornament  or  utility. 
Christian  truth  must  operate  in  the  same  way. 


18  OUR   DAT. 

Reformers  must  act  on  this  principle.  Perfection 
and  imperfection,  beauty  and  deformity,  good 
and  evil,  are  so  mixed  and  blended  in  this  world 
of  ours,  that  the  hand  of  reform  must  move  with 
caution  and  discrimination. 

All  changes  are  not  improvements.  All  revo- 
lutions are  not  true  reforms.  And  I  doubt 
not  that,  in  reference  to  this  particular,  good- 
meaning  men  have  been  sometimes  blinded  and 
led  astray.  Reformers  in  every  sphere  have 
been  extremely  liable  to  confound  the  good  with 
the  bad ;  uses  with  abuses ;  and  not  unfre- 
quently,  perhaps,  have  hurled  both  to  a  common 
ruin. 

Some  have  treated  religion  in  this  way.  Its 
perversions  and  conceptions,  too  plain  to  be 
overlooked,  standing  out  in  bold  relief,  appear 
striking  and  important,  and  arouse  indignation. 
They  fix  an  eye  upon  these,  and  these  alone. 
They  will  not  stop  to  look  at  the  other  side  of 
the  picture. 

They  pause  not  to  inquire  for  its  uses,  its 
benefits,  its  blessings  ;  but,  confounding  all  these 
with  its  evils,  cast  all  overboard  together.  Such, 
I  hardly  need  say,  is  not  the  course  of  the  true 
reformer;  and  the  fault  cannot  be  too  strongly 
reprehended.  Christ  was  far  from  this  in  his 
great  movement.  He  was  always  keenly  dis- 


REFORMS    AND    REFORMERS.  19 

criminating.  He  recognized  the  good,  wherever 
existing,  and  cast  only  the  bad  away.  The 
diamond  to  him  was  valuable,  though  buried 
fathoms  deep  in  the  dirt  and  filth  of  the  mine. 
Truth  existed  in  the  world  before  he  came  ;  and 
he  did  not  reject  it,  because  he  found  it  in 
connection  with  so  much  of  error.  But  as  the 
destroying  angel,  in  smiting  the  land  of  Egypt, 
passed  over  every  child  of  Israel,  and  saved  it ; 
so  Christ,  in  destroying  falsehood  and  evil,  was 
ever  cautious  that  truth  and  goodness  should 
not  perish  with  them. 

Social  reformers,  too,  we  have  reason  to  fear, 
have  not  always  been  sufficiently  discriminating. 
Society,  as  now  organized,  has  its  evils.  Some 
of  these  are  fast  becoming  intolerable.  No  one 
with  his  eyes  open  can  deny  it.  Philanthropists 
have  seen  this,  and  deplored  it.  They  have 
become  excited  by  looking  only  at  the  darker 
shades  in  the  social  picture  ;  and,  in  the  heat  of 
their  enthusiasm,  have  sometimes  rushed  on 
headlong  in  attempts  to  raze  society  to  its  very 
foundations.  In  their  blind  recklessness,  they 
would  leave  it  neither  root  nor  branch. 

To  the  candid  eye,  however,  it  is  plain  that, 
with  all  the  evils  and  abuses  that  are  attendant 
upon  the  present  social  system,  it  has  many 
redeeming  traits  and  features,  that  no  destroying 


20  OUR    DAY. 

hand  ought  ever  to  disturb.  If  it  has  curses,  it 
has  also  blessings  ;  and,  while  the  former  are 
abolished,  the  latter  should  be  preserved  with  the 
most  sedulous  care.  No  system  so  extensive, 
that  has  grown  up  from  human  wants,  can  be 
wholly  evil.  That  which  is  cannot  all  be  wrong. 

Good  and  evil,  like  tares  and  wheat,  grow 
often  in  the  same  field.  And  the  effort  that  is 
made  to  root  up  the  one  should  always  have  a 
due  regard  to  the  welfare  of  the  other. 

Slavery  is  now,  I  thank  God,  considered  by 
most  men  as  a  monstrous  evil.  But  our  civil 
compact,  which  was  formed  under  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances, it  was  thought  at  the  time,  must 
tolerate  this  institution,  and  has  sustained  it  by 
its  authority  ever  since.  Now  from  this  one 
fact,  there  are,  doubtless,  thousands  of  men  in 
our  country  who  would  gladly  see  the  Constitu- 
tion of  our  Union  trampled  in  the  dust.  It 
countenances  one  great  evil ;  and  that  is,  appa- 
rently, all  they  consider.  They  have  no  eye  for 
its  various  and  multiplied  blessings.  Its  supe- 
riority, in  other  respects,  seems  to  be  utterly 
overlooked  or  forgotten ;  and,  for  this  single 
defect,  they  would  rejoice  to  see  the  whole 
whelmed  in  one  common  mass  of  ruins.  Much 
as  I  hate  slavery,  deeply  as  I  detest  it,  I  can- 
not think  this  is  right.  It  is  destruction  with- 


REFORMS    AND    REFORMERS.  21 

out  conservatism,  as  I  believe.  It  is  rooting 
up  plants  and  weeds,  wheat  and  tares,  toge- 
ther. 

This  same  principle,  that  I  would  adopt  as  a 
reformer,  I  would  recommend  to  the  attention  of 
those  who  are  so  fond  of  denouncing  reformers. 
It  is  notorious  that  there  is  a  class  in  our  coun- 
try, made  up  chiefly  of  those  who  are  very  well 
off  themselves;  whose  absorbing  selfishness  can- 
not be  tempted  by  the  promise  of  a  change  in 
the  present  order  of  things  ;  and  who,  therefore, 
desire  none.  Such  are  very  bitter  towards 
reformers  generally.  They  will  mock  at  their 
excited  sympathies ;  sneer  at  their  efforts ;  de- 
clare that  every  thing  is  right  as  it  is  ;  and  that 
reformers  are  the  craziest  fools  on  earth. 

I  admit  that  reformers  sometimes  expose 
themselves  to  severe  judgments.  They  are, 
perhaps,  generally  inclined  to  enthusiasm.  Their 
enterprises  are  such  as  to  attract  readily  the 
most  ardent  spirits.  Often  they  become  fanati- 
cal. By  dwelling  upon  a  single  idea,  it  grows 
into  immense  importance.  The  cause  to  which 
they  have  given  their  whole  energies  becomes 
magnified ;  and  it  is  to  be  expected  that  they 
will  grow  bigoted  and  narrow-minded  in  regard 
to  it.  But  is  it  right  to  seize  upon  these  faults  ; 
faults  which  grow  out  incidentally  from  the 


22  OUR    DAT. 

action  of  the  noblest  virtues,  and  the  purest 
feelings,  and  speak  of  their  whole  work  in  terms 
of  the  most  bitter  and  sweeping  condemnation  ? 
How  often  is  this  done  !  How  often  is  an  indi- 
vidual or  a  party  assailed,  in  terms  of  indiscri- 
minate censure,  when  in  reality  the  great  purpose 
of  their  efforts  and  sacrifices  is  nobly  generous, 
and  their  faults,  in  endeavoring  to  realize  it, 
merely  incidental  ! 

But  Christianity  hath  also, 

3.  A  constructive  power. 

This  is,  in  fact,  its  most  glorious  feature ;  and, 
without  it,  the  whole  system  would  be  worth  very 
little  to  the  world.  Christ  would  not  only 
destroy  all  that  is  evil,  and  preserve  all  that 
is  good,  but  he  would  enlarge  and  increase  that 
good.  To  refer  once  more  to  the  figure  I  have 
used,  the  power  that  would  transform  the  wil- 
derness into  a  garden  must  be  a  power  emi- 
nently constructive.  It  is  not  enough  that  the 
old  forest  is  laid  low,  and  the  tangled  thicket 
swept  away.  It  is  not  enough  even  that  all 
should  be  preserved  which  is  found  valuable. 
There  is  an  order  of  things  to  be  created  anew. 
There  is  planting,  transplanting,  and  sowing,  to 
be  done ;  and  the  process  of  pruning,  dressing, 
and  cultivating,  must  be  carried  on,  until  finally 


REFORMS    AND    REFORMERS.  23 

the  wilderness  becomes  like  Eden,  and  the  desert 
like  the  garden  of  the  Lord. 

All  true  reforms  must  have  this  constructive 
element.  And  there  is,  perhaps,  no  one  parti- 
cular in  regard  to  which  human  effort  falls  so  far 
short  of  its  true  object  as  this.  It  is  a  want  of 
this  element  that  renders  so  many  exertions  fruit- 
less, and  oftentimes  worse  than  fruitless.  Too 
much  is  done  to  destroy,  and  too  little  to  create 
anew.  A  small  mind  may  tear  down,  but  it 
requires  a  higher  order  of  talent  to  build  up 
successfully. 

The  former  may  be  the  work  of  bad  passions, 
but  the  latter  must  proceed  from  a  good  heart. 
There  are  more  in  almost  every  department  of 
life  who  had  rather  find  fault  with  what  is,  than 
make  a  single  earnest  endeavor  to  improve  it. 
The  former  requires  but  words,  the  latter  actions ; 
and  those  who  love  not  work  do  not  hesitate  long 
in  choosing  between  them.  Therefore,  many  are 
engaged  in  destroying,  and  few,  comparatively,  in 
constructing ;  many,  as  Carlyle  quaintly  ob- 
serves, "  have  a  torch  for  burning,  but  no  ham- 
mer for  building."  And  I  am  very  confident, 
that,  if  as  much  well-directed  effort  was  put  forth 
of  a  constructive,  as  is  now  exhibited  of  a 
destructive  character,  the  world  would  grow  ra^ 
pidly  wiser  and  better. 


24  OUR   DAY. 

This  is  evidently  far  from  being  the  reality ; 
and  the  fact  is  developed  in  a  great  variety  of 
ways.  It  is  seen  in  the  man  who  opposes  Chris- 
tianity ;  who  terms  the  gospel  "  an  old  wife's 
fable,"  and  the  teachings  of  Christ  delusive ; 
while  at  the  same  time  he  offers  us  no  substitute, 
gives  us  nothing  to  solve  the  great  problems  of 
human  existence,  —  nothing  that  will  account  for 
what  is,  or  assure  us  what  will  be. 

It  is  seen,  too,  hi  the  professing  Christian,  who 
hates  the  religion  of  other  men,  and  cares  little 
about  his  own ;  who  opposes  others'  errors,  not 
that  he  may  prepare  them  for  something  better, 
but  from  mere  love  of  opposition ;  who  values 
his  own  faith,  chiefly  as  he  can  make  it  an  instru- 
ment of  war ;  and  who  has  little  or  no  desire 
that  truth,  holiness,  and  love,  should  be  built  up, 
and  prevail  in  the  earth.  It  is  seen  also,  very 
strikingly,  in  still  another  class,  to  which  I  have 
before  alluded.  They  are  those  who  stand  to  all 
the  great  moral  and  philanthropic  movements  of 
the  age,  as  mere  heartless  spectators  and  critics. 
They  look  on,  and  watch  those  who  are  engaged 
in  these  enterprises  ;  find  fault  with  their  means 
and  mode  of  conducting  operations ;  but  never 
for  a  moment  think  of  taking  hold  of  the  work 
themselves,  and  trying  to  do  it  better.  Few 
things  are  meaner  than  this.  If  I  am  toiling  in 


REFORM  AND    REFORMERS.  25 

any  work  of  reform,  —  either  to  remove  some 
great  evil,  or  encourage  some  great  virtue,  —  let 
no  man  complain  of  my  mode  of  operations,  until 
he  can  give  me  a  substitute  that  is  preferable,  or 
do  the  work  better  himself. 

But  I  cannot,  in  this  article,  name  half  the 
variety  of  ways  in  which  it  is  manifest  that  there 
are  more  who  are  laboring  to  destroy,  than  there 
are  who  are  engaged  hi  building.  Let  not  the 
hearts  of  true  reformers,  however,  be  discour- 
aged. God,  Christ,  angels,  and  all  good  men, 
are  with  them  in  spirit.  Glorious  prospects  for 
humanity  beckon  them  onward,  and  assurances 
of  ultimate  triumph  ought  ever  to  warm  their 
hearts.  Better  days  for  man,  even  in  this  world, 
are  yet  to  come.  If  I  rightly  interpret  Scrip- 
ture, God  has  promised  them.  Old  errors  will 
die.  Vicious  habits  will  be  done  away.  The 
cursed  bowl  will  poison  its  millions  no  longer. 
Oppression,  too,  will  perish.  The  chains  will  be 
rent  from  the  slave, 


like  flax 


That  falls  asunder  at  the  touch  of  fire." 

Wars  will  cease,  and  peace  throw  her  kind  arms 
around  the  nations,  and  bind  them  all  hi  one. 

This  is  God's  work,  and  it  will  prosper.     It  is 
to  be  realized,  however,  through  the  agency  of 


26  OUR   DAY. 

secondary  causes.  Men  are  to  be  active  and  co- 
operative in  it.  It  is  not  a  change  which  God  is 
to  effect  for  us,  and  independent  of  us  ;  but  one 
that  he  is  to  aid  us  in  working  out  for  ourselves. 
It  will  be  the  result  of  no  miracle.  He  furnishes 
the  means,  and  blesses  their  use. 

The  enterprise,  under  him,  is  given  to  all  true 
reformers.  Theirs  is  the  high  privilege  of  being 
co-workers  with  God  and  his  dear  Son,  in  making 
the  wilderness  to  rejoice,  and  the  desert  to  bud 
and  blossom  as  the  rose. 


27 


INTERESTED    OPPOSERS    OF    MORAL 
REFORMS. 


BY  REV.  A.  E.  ABBOTT. 


"  Mammon  sits  before  a  million  hearths 
Whelte  God  ia  bolted  out  from  every  house." 

FESTTS. 

INTEREST  is  the  genuine  lever  of  Archimedes 
—  its  fulcrum,  the  sordid  heart ;  —  it  moves  the 
world. 

Men  are  seldom  aware  of  the  extent  to  which 
their  opinions  and  actions  are  under  the  control 
of  interest  —  self-interest.  Even  when  they 
think  they  are  acting  the  part  of  free  men, 
perfectly  unshackled,  and  unbiased  by  any  sel- 
fish considerations  whatever,  a  searching  analy- 
sis of  their  motives  would  frequently  show  them 
that  they  are  much  more  under  the  influence  of 
feeling  than  of  judgment.  Our  own  personal 
interests  —  by  which  I  mean  to  include  all  our 
prepossessions  and  prejudices  —  spread  a  veil 


28  OUR   DAT. 

before  our  eyes,  thick  as  the  "  veil  of  futurity," 
through  which  it  is  next  to  impossible  for  us  to 
see  things  in  their  proper  light.  Crimes  lose 
their  startling  appearance  of  criminality ;  errors 
and  misdemeanors  are  softened  down  till  they 
wear  the  hues,  if  not  of  virtues,  at  least  of  very 
excusable  faults ;  and,  on  the  whole,  we  are  apt 
to  think  them  productive  of  much  more  good 
than  evil,  especially  if  the  good,  as  we  call  it, 
promotes  our  interest,  and  the  evil  falls  on  some 
one  else. 

It  is  well  to  stop  occasionally  amidst  the  jars 
and  discords  of  sects  and  parties,  —  amidst  the 
criminations  and  recriminations  so  freely  dealt 
out  upon  each  other,  by  those  who  would  think 
themselves  insulted  if  you  should  question  their 
perfect  love  for  all  mankind ;  —  it  is  well  occa- 
sionally to  stop  amidst  all  this  bickering  and 
strife  of  antagonism,  and  ask  ourselves  how  far 
these  contentions  are  dictated  by  self-interest 
and  blind  prejudice.  It  is  well  to  contemplate 
this  drama  of  human  life,  continually  passing 
before  our  eyes.  It  yields  instruction  to  the 
thoughtful  man.  Here  we  may  learn  how  will- 
ingly, nay,  how  obstinately,  men  will  close  their 
eyes  to  light,  when,  by  receiving  and  acting  in 
harmony  with  it,  they  would  be  obliged  to  make 
some  little  pecuniary  sacrifice.  Here,  too,  we 


OPPOSERS    OF   MORAL   REFORMS.  29 

may  see  with  what  fearful  tenacity  men  will 
cling  to  a  chain  of  gold,  though  it  drag  them  to 
hell. 

We  propose  in  this  article  to  illustrate  the 
action  of  this  spirit,  in  the  opposition  with  which 
the  reforms  of  the  day  are  continually  beset ;  — 
the  position  occupied  by  those  who  take  the 
lead  in  this  opposition.  And,  as  we  have  no 
time  to  waste  on  introductory  remarks,  we  will 
proceed  immediately  to  the  work. 

I.  We  will  say  a  few  words  on  the  great 
subject  of  Southern  Slavery.  It  is  a  fact  which 
no  man  will  pretend  to  deny,  that  there  are 
many  men  in  our  section  of  the  country,  even 
in  New  England,  so  devotedly  attached  to  lib- 
erty, who  are  strenuously  opposed  to  every 
movement  which  the  more  philanthropic  are 
making  to  rid  the  country  of  this  blighting 
curse.  They  vilify  every  lecturer  who  attempts 
to  enlighten  the  people  upon  this  subject,  or  to 
enlist  their  sympathies  in  behalf  of  the  suffer- 
ing millions  who  groan  under  the  scourge  and 
the  lash,  and  whose  cries  rend  the  heavens, 
morning,  noon,  and  night,  calling  for  vengeance 
on  the  head  of  the  oppressor.  And  if  a  minis- 
ter of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  so  far  forgets  the 
duties  and  responsibilities  of  his  station  as  to 
lift  his  voice  in  behalf  of  the  oppressed  and 


30  OUR   DAY. 

down-trodden,  or  if  he  so  far  disregards  the 
obligation  he  is  under  to  those  who  support  him 
as  to  make  this  "  exciting  topic "  a  theme  of 
public  discourse,  these  opposers  will  use  every 
means  in  their  power  to  deprive  him  of  his 
place. 

They  are  as  ready  as  any  to  acknowledge 
that  slavery  is  wrong,  —  that  it  is  a  great  evil, — 
that  it  is  a  disgrace  and  a  curse  to  the  country. 
And  yet,  with  what  seems  a  most  singular 
inconsistency,  they  strenuously  refuse  to  have 
any  thing  said  of  this  monstrous  evil.  They  are 
as  much  opposed  to  slavery  as  any  one  —  so 
they  say.  And  perhaps  they  are ;  —  but  this 
we  know  ;  —  a  searching,  earnest  discourse  upon 
this  subject  will  fire  them  up,  as  certainly  as  a 
blaze  of  lightning  would  ignite  a  train  of  gun- 
powder. Let  the  preacher,  when  such  a  man 
attends  church,  speak  plainly  and  without  re- 
serve upon  this  topic,  and  he  will  soon  hear 
from  this  conservative  abolitionist.  The  man 
says  he  is  opposed  to  slavery,  —  what  fault  can 
he  find  with  a  discourse  intended  to  give  the 
people  light  on  this  point  ?  He  will  not  answer 
this  question  directly ;  —  he  is  unwilling  to  enter 
into  any  explanation,  perhaps;  but  he  thinks 
that  ministers,  especially,  may  find  enough  to  do 
in  "preaching  the  gospel,"  without  attacking 


OPPOSERS    OF  MORAL   REFORMS.  31 

the  "  institutions  of  the  country,"  or  setting  one 
part  of  our  citizens  in  battle  array  against  the 
other.  He  acknowledges  that  some  of  our 
"southern  institutions"  are  not  in  perfect  ac- 
cordance with  the  highest  idea  of  Christianity, 
or  with  the  true  spirit  of  republicanism ;  but  he 
thinks  there  are  evils  enough  at  home  to  occupy 
those  who  are  so  anxious  to  reform  the  commu- 
nity, and  that  they  need  not  go  so  far  out  of  their 
way  to  find  work  to  do  in  that  sphere. 

All  this  is  significant ;  —  somewhat  enigmati- 
cal to  be  sure,  but  as  clear  and  direct  as  any 
thing  we  shall  be  likely  to  obtain  on  the  subject 
from  this  source.  Very  evidently  the  man  wishes 
to  have  nothing  said  on  the  subject  of  southern 
slavery  ;  and  he  must  have  some  reason  for  his 
objection.  Of  course  none  will  deny  that  there 
is  evil  enough  in  all  communities,  —  it  is  all 
around  us  on  every  side ;  —  and  the  earnest 
reformer  need  not  fold  his  hands  in  idleness, 
though  he  should  not  meddle  with  the  matter  of 
slavery.  But  it  is  the  merest  sophistry  in  the 
world  to  give  that  as  a  reason  why  he  should 
not  speak  upon  that  subject.  Is  the  fault-finder 
so  particularly  anxious  that  no  evils  should  be 
spoken  of,  except  those  which  prevail  in  the  com- 
munity where  he  resides  ?  By  no  means :  it  is 
only  when  one  single  subject  is  mentioned  that 


02  OUK  DAT. 

he  is  so  sensitive ;  it  is  only  then  that  he  is  so 
vividly  conscious  of  the  evils  at  home,  demand- 
ing immediate  attention !  We  say,  then,  it  is 
the  merest  subterfuge  in  the  world  for  him  to 
give  such  a  reason.  There  is  something  deeper 
than  this,  some  more  powerful  inducement  for 
him  to  pursue  the  course  he  does,  than  the  mere 
existence  of  other  evils  besides  slavery.  What 
are  his  reasons  ?  He  does  not  attempt  to  defend 
the  institution  of  slavery,  —  perhaps  there  is 
not  a  man  in  New  England  who  would  attempt 
this,  on  high,  moral  grounds ;  who  would  attempt 
to  prove  it  right  and  just.  Why  this  objection 
then  to  its  being  made  the  topic  of  public  de- 
bate? These  are  the  reasons:  —  Sometimes, 
perhaps  not  very  frequently,  the  objector  has  a 
brother,  or  some  relative  or  dear  friend,  who 
resides  at  the  South,  owns  a  plantation  and  forty 
or  fifty  slaves.  And  occasionally  you  may  as- 
certain that  the  objector  himself  owns  an  interest 
in  the  souls  and  bodies  of  men,  women,  and 
children.  We  have  known  such  cases ;  and  such 
men  are  usually  very  sensitive  when  the  subject 
of  slavery  is  mentioned.  But,  in  a  vast  majority 
of  cases,  the  fault-finder  is  a  zealous  politician, 
belonging  to  one  or  the  other  of  the  great  lead- 
ing parties ;  and  he  regards  with  a  jealous  eye 
the  rapid  increase  of  the  "  third  party,"  as  it  is 


OPPOSERS    OF  MORAL    REFORMS.  33 

termed,  which,  a  very  moderate  share  of  sagacity 
enables  him  to  perceive,  will  soon  hold  the  bal- 
ance of  power  in  its  own  hands.  This  lies  at 
the  bottom  of  almost  every  objection  against 
anti-slavery  lectures  and  sermons.  It  is  not 
because  the  objector  would  have  more  attention 
paid  to  evils  that  exist  in  the  community  where 
he  lives ;  but  because  he  would  have  his  own 
interest  promoted,  or  the  influence  of  his  party 
extended.  It  is  not  morally  or  religiously  that 
he  objects  at  all,  but  politically.  And,  if  he  can 
make  the  reformer  an  instrument  to  promote 
his  party  purposes,  morality,  philanthropy,  and 
religion,  may  find  their  advocates  where  they 
can.  But  so  long  as  they  stand  in  his  way,  he 
is  their  sworn  and  bitter  foe.  Self-interest  and 
party  are  the  only  gods  that  such  men  worship. 

II.  The  subject  of  Temperance  may  serve  as 
another  illustration  of  our  position.  Who  will 
attempt,  on  moral  or  religious  ground,  to  defend 
the  sale  and  use  of  intoxicating  drinks,  as  they 
now  exist  in  our  community?  Certainly,  no 
one,  unless  he  is  willing  to  forfeit  all  claims  to 
sanity,  or  at  least  to  be  called  a  monomaniac. 
Still,  notwithstanding  the  temperance  movement 
has  become  so  generally  popular,  there  are  men 
who  use  every  effort  to  oppose  it.  No  matter 
how  extensively  the  evil  of  intemperance  may 


34  OUR   DAY. 

prevail  in  the  community  where  they  live ;  no 
matter  how  much  pauperism  and  crime  or  how 
many  deaths  it  may  produce ;  no  matter  how 
much  of  human  misery  may  flow  from  this 
source  alone,  it  must  not  be  spoken  of;  they 
will  have  nothing  said  of  it,  if  they  can  prevent 
it.  Do  such  men  deny  that  intemperance  is  an 
evil,  and  one  of  the  greatest  with  which  any  land 
was  ever  cursed?  Or,  admitting  it  to  be  such 
an  evil,  do  they  mean  to  say  that  it  should  be 
permitted  to  grow  unmolested,  striking  its  roots 
deeper  and  deeper  into  the  soil  of  our  country, 
and  overshadowing,  with  its  poisonous  branches, 
the  best,  the  holiest  institutions  of  the  land? 
Will  they  contend  that  it  is  wrong  to  check  the 
progress  of  this  monster-evil,  which  is  annually 
hurrying  its  hundreds  of  thousands  to  a  prema- 
ture grave,  and  making  millions  of  paupers 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land ; 
which  is  binding  in  chains  of  ignorance  so  many 
of  the  rising  generation?  "Will  any  one  con- 
tend that  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of 
Christianity  to  use  every  reasonable  effort  to 
arrest  the  growth  of  such  an  evil?  We  will 
put  it  on  broader  ground  than  this.  Will  any 
one  who  claims  to  be  a  Christian,  or  even  a  well- 
wisher  to  humanity,  say  that  duty  does  not  abso- 
lutely demand  that  the  reformer  take  a  firm 


OPPOSERS    OF   MORAL   REFORMS.  35 

and  decided  stand  against  this  evil  ?  Why,  then, 
object  ?  Why  find  fault  with  those  who  choose 
to  discharge  their  duties,  and  trust  the  conse- 
quences with  God?  Why  not  let  them  stand 
on  the  only  ground  that  can  be  occupied  by  the 
true  man,  who  will  be  faithful  to  humanity,  to 
duty,  and  to  his  Maker  ? 

We  are  not  ignorant  that  opposition  to  the 
temperance  movement  is  somewhat  unpopular 
at  present ;  but  it  cannot  be  denied  that  opposi- 
tion still  exists.  And  who  are  the  opposers  ? 
Let  this  question  be  fairly  answered,  and  we 
shall  see  at  once  by  what  motives  they  are 
prompted.  They  are  the  owners  of  distilleries 
where  rum  is  manufactured ;  and  they  are  the 
landlords  of  taverns,  and  keepers  of  groceries 
and  cellars  where  rum  is  sold.  They  are  the 
manufacturers,  wholesale  dealers,  and  retailers, 
whose  interests  are  directly  connected  with  this 
infernal  business;  and  their  governing  motive 
is  avarice.  The  mother  of  the  living  child 
which  Solomon  ordered  to  be  divided  with  the 
sword  was  not  more  anxious  that  its  life  should 
be  spared  than  men  now  are  that  those  vices 
should  remain  untouched  by  the  hand  of  reform, 
which  minister  to  their  profit  or  pleasure.  This 
is  the  secret  of  their  opposition.  Their  inter- 
ests are  invaded;  and,  with  starting  eye-balls 


36  OUR   DAY. 

and  trembling  hands,  they  clutch  at  the  ghost  of 
a  departing  penny,  as  if  their  souls'  salvation 
depended  upon  retaining  it.  They  would  grasp 
and  hoard  their  ill-gotten  gains,  though  every 
coin  were  cankered  all  over  with  the  blood,  and 
blistered  with  the  tears,  of  widows  and  orphans. 
They  would  grasp  the  very  heart-strings  of  their 
deluded  brother,  till  the  life-blood  oozed  through 
their  fingers;  and  then  they  would  coin  the 
drops,  if  they  were  able,  and  heap  up  the  pence 
in  their  coffers. 

What  do  such  men  care  for  the  moral  and 
religious  interests  of  the  community  ?  They  are 
not  so  short-sighted  as  not  to  perceive  that  the 
more  moral  and  religious  a  society  is,  the  less  is 
their  chance  of  living  in  it.  The  less  of  such 
ingredients  enter  into  the  composition  of  a  so- 
ciety, the  better  is  it  fitted  for  their  use. 

It  was  our  intention,  when  we  commenced  this 
article,  to  speak  of  several  other  of  the  reforms ; 
but  the  space  to  which  we  are  limited  will  not 
permit.  Those  we  have  mentioned  may  be 
taken  as  samples  of  all  the  others ;  for  the  same 
spirit  operates  through  the  whole.  Distinctive 
Washingtonianism  was  deeply  injured  by  those 
who  threw  over  its  shoulders  the  mantle  of 
sectarianism,  swathed  it  in  bandages  of  the  law, 
and  thrust  into  its  strong  right  hand  the  hammer 


OPPOSEES    OF   MORAL   REFORMS.  37 

of  legal  force.  The  abolition  of  capital  punish- 
ment has  been  retarded  by  those  who,  with  cun- 
ning malignity  worthy  to  have  emanated  from 
the  infernal  regions,  have  sought  to  make  it  a 
sectarian  test-question. 

But  we  need  not  be  discouraged.  There  are 
men  full  of  love  for  this  sin-blinded  family  of 
humanity,  —  men  of  great  and  noble  natures, 
earnest  and  firm  in  the  cause  of  truth,  —  who 
are  ready  to  sustain  the  right  at  whatever  cost. 
And  five  such  men,  who  are  willing  to  be 
governed  by  God's  eternal  laws  of  right,  are 
stronger  than  a  thousand  with  falsehood  upon 
their  tongues,  and  the  price  of  blood  and  human 
misery  in  their  hands. 


38 


THE  GALLOWS  SHALL  BE  CAST  DOWN. 

BY  J.  G.  ADAMS. 

"  Away  with  the  executioner  and  the  execution,  and  the  very 
name  of  its  engine,  —  not  merely  from  the  limbs,  but  from  the  very 
thoughts,  the  eyes,  the  ears  of  Roman  citizens  !  For  not  alone  the 
occurrence  and  the  endurance  of  all  these  things,  but  also  the  liabi- 
lity, the  apprehension,  even  the  mere  mention  of  them,  are  unworthy 
of  a  Roman  citizen  and  a  free  man."  —  CICERO. 

THE  Gallows  shall  be  cast  down !  Encourag- 
ing, indeed,  to  its  true  friends,  is  the  progress  of 
this  "  one  idea."  It  is  truthfully  written  on  the 
present ;  it  will  be  joyfully  realized  in  the 
future. 

The  first  bold  declarations  of  this  idea  were 
met  by  some  Christians  with  the  cry  of  "  Infi- 
delity !  —  a  denial  of  the  authority  of  the  Scrip- 
tures !  —  Moses  taught  capital  punishment,  and 
Christ  sanctioned  Moses ;  and  so  this  institution 
of  death  was  made  a  part  of  Christianity,  and 
he  who  would  abolish  it  would  dishonor  the 
Christian  religion  !  "  Into  the  discussion  of  this 


THE   GALLOWS    SHALL   BE    CAST   DOWN.      39 

question  went  the  friends  and  opponents  of  the 
gallows.  And  the  old  Jewish  law  was  exam- 
ined ;  and  the  black  Hebrew  roots  were  dug  up 
and  turned  over,  and  the  dust  and  mould  beaten 
from  them ;  and  Greek  and  Latin  were  set  this 
way  and  that  again ;  and  logic  and  theology 
made  to  measure  their  weapons.  And  what  is 
the  result  ?  Plainly,  that  the  Jews  under  Moses 
are  no  guides  to  us  in  the  framing  of  civil  codes  ; 
that  if  we  are  not  to  take  life  as  they  did,  in 
case  of  more  than  thirty  capital  offences,  neither 
are  we  to  take  it  in  any  instance ;  that,  if  we 
may  not  stone,  decapitate,  saw  asunder,  or  cru- 
cify, neither  may  we  strangle.  It  must  needs 
be,  we  suppose,  that  we  have  all  this  controversy 
to  find  out  this  plain  truth.  But  let  us  be 
thankful  the  truth  is  made  so  plain  now.  The 
controversy  will  lead  us  to  understand  that 
Christ  came  not  to  sanction  the  death-code  of 
Moses  ;  "  not  to  destroy  men's  lives,  but  to  save 
them."  "We  never  hear  him  requiring  blood  for 
blood.  It  is  mercy's,  it  is  love's  law,  which  he 
speaks.  Sanguinary  punishments  must  disap- 
pear before  the  increasing  and  undying  light, 

A  cry  for  the  public  safety  was  heard,  also, 
when  this  question  arose.  Public  safety !  where 
would  this  be,  if  capital  punishment  should  be 
abolished  ?  And  on  went  the  work  of  investiga- 


40  OUR   DAT. 

tion,  and  out  came  to  the  world  page  after  page 
of  truth.  Denmark,  Russia,  Tuscany,  Belgium, 
all  gave  answer,  that  the  modification  or  aboli- 
tion of  this  punishment  effected  no  such  dreaded 
evil  as  the  increase  of  crime.  And  evidences  to 
this  effect  are  still  accumulating ;  and  the  con- 
test of  opinion  is  now  fairly  set  in.  Reason  and 
Scripture,  Logic  and  Philanthropy,  Jewish  and 
Christian  law,  each  shall  have  their  questions 
answered,  and  their  authorities  duly  respected. 
Churchman  and  Gome-outer,  Conservative  and 
Radical,  call  for  the  abolition  of  the  death  pen- 
alty. 

Strong  are  the  reasons  for  this  abolition.  It 
is  urged,  because  the  preponderance  of  the  Scrip- 
tural argument  is  in  favor  of  such  a  reform; 
because  it  is  a  settled  axiom,  that  the  certainty 
of  punishment  is  a  much  more  effectual  restraint 
from  crime,  than  its  severity ;  because  it  is  all 
mistake  to  suppose  that  the  fear  of  a  possible 
chance  of  death  —  that  end  to  which  we  know 
we  all  must  sooner  or  later  come  —  has  often 
much  effect  in  deterring  men  from  any  act  to 
which  they  are  impelled  by  any  powerful  pas- 
sion or  motive;  because  it  is  not  necessary  to 
hang  a  man  who  has  committed  a  murder,  for 
the  protection  of  society  against  the  repetition  of 
the  act, —  other  means  of  punishment  and  protec- 


THE    GALLOWS    SHALL    BE    CAST   DOWN.      41 

tion  being  available ;  because  nothing  short  of 
an  absolute  and  demonstrable  necessity  can  jus- 
tify the  maintenance  of  the  death  penalty,  and 
this  has  in  no  case  yet  been  proved;  because 
capital  punishment  is  often  fatally  pernicious, 
and  attended  with  most  demoralizing  and  brutal- 
izing influences  on  society,  —  multiplying  the 
very  crime  which  it  vainly  seeks  to  prevent,  by 
imitating  and  suggesting  it,  so  that  the  hangman 
is  himself  the  direct  or  indirect  cause  of  more 
murders  than  he  ever  punishes  or  avenges ; 
because  it  is  founded  on  the  pernicious  principle 
of  vengeance ;  because  this  punishment  of  death 
is  irremediable,  —  numerous  cases  having  occur- 
red in  which  innocence  has  suffered,  and  it  may 
be  thus  in  multitudes  of  instances  in  the  future ; 
because,  by  abolishing  the  publicity  of  execu- 
tions, our  own  law  has  already  half  acknow- 
ledged their  inutility.  if  not  their  pernicious 
influence,  as  deterring  examples  ;  and,  once 
more,  because  there  exists  abundant  testimony 
in  the  experiments  already  made  in  other  coun- 
tries less  enlightened  and  civilized  than  our  own, 
to  the  safety  and  probable  influence  that  would 
attend  the  proposed  reform.* 

Such  is  the  strong  call,  and   it  will  be  an- 


•  Th«*e  reasons  are  condensed  from  a  recent  popular  report. 
3 


42  OUR  DAT. 

swered.  Many  of  our  own  states  are  now  mov- 
ing aright  to  it.  Remarkable  changes  of  opinion 
have  taken  place,  where  discussions  in  reference 
to  the  expediency  or  inexpediency  of  capital 
punishments  have  been  held.  Michigan  has 
first  voted  right  in  this  work ;  and  she  will  not 
be  long  alone.  Our  own  land  shall  repudiate 
this  outrage  on  humanity  ;  and  other  lands  shall, 
by  example,  respond  Amen  !  Let  the  light  con- 
tinue to  shine ;  let  the  word  continue  to  be 
uttered, 

"  Till  Dagon.  from  his  basement  riven, 
Falls  down  before  the  ark  of  heaven." 

It  must  fall,  if  the  opposite  opinions  can  have 
fair  conflict.  There  is  no  alternative  but  defeat 
for  the  gallows-defenders,  the  gallows-sustainers, 
the  gallows-goers.  What  if  old  conservatives, 
who  never  will  budge  one  inch  out  of  their 
tracks  till  they  are  pushed  or  drawn  out,  shall 
say,  as  did  one  of  the  old  school,  of  whom  I 
heard  recently  in  Boston,  "  that  the  idea  of  an 
execution  once  more  is  really  refreshing ;  it 
indicates  the  public  safety  "  ?  "What  if  some 
magistrate,  in  prejudice  unbefitting  his  station, 
shall  go  for  "  stretching  hemp,"  that  we  may 
have  orderly  times  again  ?  *  Or  what  if  church 

*  A  Rhode  Island  Judge ! 


THE   GALLOWS   SHALL   BE    CAST  DOWN.      43 

and  state  yet  adhere,  with  renewed  grasp,  to  this 
detestable  error  ?  Just  for  the  present,  perhaps, 
this  most  needs  be;  though  that  more  human 
life  may  be  sacrificed  the  while  makes  us  sick  at 
heart.  Yet  we  must  not  despair  of  the  right. 
Our  truth  will  prevail.  The  people  shall  hear  it ; 
our  Rulers,  our  Judges,  our  Reverend  men,  our 
Conservatives,  our  Radicals,  all  shall  hear  it. 
They  shall  be  challenged  to  meet  it;  and,  as 
they  fail,  so  all  the  louder  shall  truth's  voice  be 
heard,  and  all  the  surer  shall  her  triumphs  be 
won.  Therefore,  let  us  not  be  weary  in  our  well- 
doing for  this  cause  of  God  and  man.  THE 
GALLOWS  SHALL  BE  CAST  DOWN  !  Let  us,  in 
truth's  name,  make  this  our  sure  word  of  pro- 
phecy, and  in  its  cheering  spirit  move  onward. 


44 


NIGHT  AND  MORNING. 

BY  EEV.   T.   L.    HARRIS. 
I. 

THE  dread,  primeval  Night  drooped  round,  with  many  an  icy  fold. 
Where  wide  the  realm  of  chaos  lay  all  desolate  and  cold ; 
No  yoice  was  there,  no  life,  no  thought,  no  power  amid  the  gloom. 
'T  was  Death  where  yet  no  Life  had  been,  a  tomb  within  a  tomb. 

All  silently  the  roid  reposed,  its  hollow  gloom  untrod, 

When,  lo  !  on  radiant  wing  swept  down  the  LIVING  THOUGHT  OP  GOD  ! 

The  chaos  at  its  rushing  breath  with  spirit  all  was  rife, 

And  Earth  was  born  like  some  great  SOUL  that  thrills  and  burns  to  life. 

That  swift-winged  Thought !    Its  pinions  arched,  it  shot  its  glance  of 

flame, 

And  so  the  skies  and  sun  were  born,  and  so  the  MORNING  came ; 
And  beauty  blushed  beneath  its  smile,  and  far  and  wide  unrolled. 
Till  mount,  and  vale,  and  wave,  were  robed  in  crysolite  and  gold. 

The  stars  at  morning's  purple  gates,  with  crowns  of  silver  fire, 
Awoke  their  joyous  lays,  and  swept  the  love-attuned  lyre, 
And  greeted  MAN,  who  stood  sublime,  with  earnest,  thoughtful  eyeB; 
Heir  of  the  Palace  of  the  Earth,  the  Temple  of  the  Skies. 

II. 

The  awful  Night  of  Sin,  and  Hate,  and  Tyranny,  and  Gloom, 
Has  hung  its  raven  veils  o'er  Earth,  like  palls  above  a  tomb  ; 


NIGHT   AND   MORNING.  45 

The  world  is  bound  with  priestly  chains,  and  beat  by  War's  wild  blast. 
And  thunders  roll  and  lightnings  blaze  from  out  the  angry  Past. 

The  Star  of  Solyma  has  set,  her  prophet-voices  died, 
And  Spectres  from  the  Delphian  shrine  and  high  Parthenon  glide  ; 
And  o;er  the  shadowed  tents,  and  o'er  the  marble  temples,  roll 
The  wares  of  darkness  and  of  pain,  —  tke  midnight  of  the  soul! 

Lo !  wide  the  gates  of  Morning  burst,  and,  crowned  with  lore  and  light, 
The  Ruler  of  the  Day-spring  comes  in  Truth's  all-conquering  might ; 
Pale  idols  from  their  columns  roll,  and,  wakened  by  bis  tread, 
The  Grave  unbars  its  iron  doors,  and  yieldeth  up  its  dead. 

In  ram  from  "  Moses'  Seat "  roll  down  the  thunder-bolts  of  wrath  : 
In  rain  the  chasm  of  the  grave  yawns  open  in  his  path : 
New  light,  new  life,  new  faith  and  hope,  beam  up  beneath  his  eye, 
As  o'er  the  orient  hills  he  comes,  the  Day-spring  from  on  high ! 

He  tears  away  the  ancient  veils  from  Truth's  resplendent  brow  ; 
God  reigns  no  more  the  Thunderer, —  he  smiles  "  our  Father  "  now ! 
And  with  the  golden  Brotherhood  he  clasps  our  human  kind, 
Commanding  love  to  God  and  man,  in  life,  and  act,  and  mind  ! 

m. 

The  weary  world  is  girt  again  with  crushing  chains  of  night ; 
Oppression  rules  with  red  right  arm,  and  Terror  breathes  its  blight ; 
The  State  its  scorpion  pangs  around  man's  bleeding  heart  has  thrown  ; 
The  Church,  one*  full  of  life,  is  now  a  sepulchre  of  stone ! 

Philosophy  with  blinded  eye  forgets  the  Spirit  Cause ! 

Like  a  cold  snake,  she  coils  around  the  dead  material  laws  ; 

And  Sense  usurps  the  throne  of  Soul,  and  Life  they  call  but  breath, 

And  "  Endless  Sleep  "  they  write  above  the  icy  halls  of  Death  ! 

Woe  to  the  Prophet !  hunt  him  down !  they  cry  with  flame  and  steel ; 
Woe  to  the  Weak  and  Poor  who  fall  beneath  the  crushing  wheel ; 


46  OUR   DAY. 

Woe  to  the  Strong,  their  bosoms  bleed  ;  the  vulture  Conqueror's  prey : 
List  to  those  groans,  "  How  long,  0  Lord  !  how  long  before  the  day  ?  " 

But  see  .'  the  banners  lifted  high  amid  the  purple  MOKN, 
And  hear  the  thrilling  cry  that  now  Love's  better  day  is  born  ; 
And  hear  the  throne  and  altar  fall,  and  see  the  dungeon  shake  ; 
And,  like  the  ocean  in  its  strength,  MAN'S  ancient  spirit  wake. 

The  Tree  of  Freedom  strikes  its  root  in  green  Mount  Ternon's  grave. 
And  far  along  the  circling  orb  its  radiant  branches  ware ; 
The  weary  ones  are  strong  again ;  the  thronging  blind,  they  see ; 
The  broken  heart  is  bound  once  more ;  the  Slave  shall  yet  be  free  ! 

from  his  pale  battle-horse  reels  WAR,  and  dies  with  demon  frown ; 
The  conqueror  bears  the  mark  of  Cain,  no  more  the  laurel  crown ; 
The  law  that  binds  our  race  shall  be  the  blissful  Law  of  Love  ; 
And  Earth  and  Time  shall  open  up  to  yon  clear  heaven  above  ! 

The  Universe  is  dead  no  more.    From  GOD  its  LIVING  Soul, 
Through  every  Star,  through  every  Heart,  bright  revelations  roll ; 
The  Heroes  rise,  the  Prophets  live ;  the  light  that  fills  our  sphere. 
It  streameth  from  the  INFINITE.    Our  FATHER,  GOD,  is  here ! 


47 


THE  REDEEMED  HUSBAND. 

BY  BIBS.  HABT  A.  LIVERMORE. 

THE  clock  told  the  hour  of  twelve  —  the  dead 
hour  of  night !  In  various  and  dissonant  chimes 
it  rung  from  the  numerous  steeples  of  the  city ; 
and  with  solemn  slowness,  and  startling  clear- 
ness, it  sounded  from  the  brass  time-keeper 
stationed  on  the  mantel  of  the  little  parlor, 
where  sat  Frances  May,  awaiting  her  husband's 
return.  Roused  from  the  painful  reverie  into 
which  she  had  fallen,  she  sprang  to  her  feet, 
paced  the  room  rapidly  for  a  few  moments  as 
in  tumultuous  agony,  then  suddenly  stopped, 
clasped  her  hands  over  her  bosom,  and  raising 
her  eyes  to  Heaven,  uttered  the  ejaculation, 
"  Oh,  my  Father ! "  and  became  calm  again. 
The  childlike  trust  expressed  in  these  words 
filled  her  heart  as  with  light ;  and  in  the  blessed- 
ness of  calm  confidence  in  the  Holy  One,  she  sat 
her  down  beside  her  infant's  cradle,  and  sang  a 
soothing  lullaby. 


48  DUE   DAT. 

Slowly  paced  the  hand  of  the  clock  around 
the  dial's  circle, — one  of  the  morning  pealed 
through  the  little  apartment,  and  still  James 
May  returned  not.  A  thousand  vague,  unformed 
fears  flitted  through  the  mind  of  the  pale  and 
weary  watcher;  a  heavy  sigh  burst  from  her 
bosom,  her  needle-work  fell  from  her  nerveless 
fingers,  and  the  song  which  she  attempted  died 
upon  her  lips.  Two  o'clock  —  three  o'clock  — 
four  o'clock  sounded :  the  gray  light  of  morning 
broke  over  the  heavens,  the  rattling  of  wheels 
over  the  pavements,  and  the  occasional  tread  of 
a  passer-by  told  that  the  world  was  awaking  to 
the  cares  and  duties  of  the  new-born  day  —  still 
the  absent  and  neglectful  husband  came  not. 
Brighter  and  brighter  dawned  the  morning,  and 
soon  the  dazzling  rays  of  the  rejoicing  sun 
streamed  into  the  parlor,  where  still  stood  the 
little  table  bearing  the  evening  meal  intended 
for  the  absent  one,  where  rested  the  wrought 
slippers  beside  the  cushioned  easy-chair,  with 
the  dressing-gown  flung  across  it.  Noon  came, 
—  and  then  the  westering  sun  began  slowly  to 
decline  in  the  horizon,  —  and  still  James  May 
was  absent. 

In  the  fever  of  anxiety,  and  the  torture  of 
suspense,  poor  Frances  passed  those  long  and 
weary  hours.  Her  brain  whirled,  her  temples 


THE  REDEEMED  HUSBAND.        49 

throbbed,  her  heart  was  sick;  and  she  could 
neither  give  her  attention  to  any  employment, 
nor  interest  herself  in  the  innocent  playfulness  of 
her  infant  daughter,  or  the  lively  prattle  of  her 
sprightly  boy.  If  a  coach  passed,  she  sprang 
to  the  window,  hoping  and  fearing,  she  hardly 
knew  what ;  if  a  door  was  opened  or  closed,  she 
started  nervously,  and  turned  pale ;  if  the  door- 
bell rang,  or  a  knock  was  heard,  the  palpitations 
of  her  heart  almost  suffocated  her ;  and  still  the 
day  waned  and  waned,  and  before  the  suffering 
wife  there  seemed  but  the  prospect  of  another 
lonely  night,  another  eternity  of  suspense.  The 
certainty  of  any  calamity  seemed  more  tolerable 
than  these  harrowing  fears  and  forebodings ;  and 
leaving  her  children  in  the  care  of  a  neighbor, 
she  hastened  with  fleet  footsteps  to  the  house 

of ,  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  where   her 

husband  had  been  employed  for  years  as  senior 
clerk. 

God  of  Heaven !  what  agony  was  in  store  for 
her!  Her  husband  was  not  at  his  post  in  the 
counting-room,  nor  had  he  been  there  during 
that  day,  or  during  that  week.  She  pushed 
her  queries  farther ;  and  the  kind-hearted  mer- 
chant at  last  owned,  reluctantly  and  painfully, 
that  he  had  been  compelled  to  discharge  him 
from  his  service  a  year  before,  for  dishonesty. 


50  OUR   DAY. 

Frances  sank  into  a  chair,  gasped  for  breath, 
and  for  a  moment  it  seemed  as  if  the  very  jaws 
of  death  were  opened  before  her.  But  by  a 
mighty  effort  she  crushed  down  her  feelings,  and 
leaning  against  the  counter,  with  more  of  faint- 
ness  and  fear  than  before,  inquired  yet  farther. 
Little  by  little  she  wrung  from  her  unwilling 
informant,  while  his  heart  bled  for  the  wretched 
wife,  the  whole  bitter  truth.  She  listened  to  a 
recital  of  the  doubtful  and  suspicious  sources 
upon  which  her  husband  had,  during  the  past 
year,  depended  for  a  subsistence,  of  the  dissi- 
pated and  vicious  haunts  which  he  had  punc- 
tually frequented,  to  the  declaration  that  he  was 
a  reputed  gamester  and  libertine,  and  to  the 
appalling  announcement  that  he  was  that  morn- 
ing arrested  for  a  desperate  and  daring  forgery, 
just  as  he  was  on  the  point  of  embarking  for 
Liverpool,  and  was  then  lying  in  the  City  Jail ; 
—  and  the  deep  groan  which  burst  from  the 
heart  of  the  poor  wife,  the  heavy  drooping  of 
her  head  upon  the  counter,  and  her  fall  to  the 
floor,  senseless  and  corpse-like,  told  how  unex- 
pected and  full  of  anguish  were  these  sad  reve- 
lations. 

The  fatherly  merchant  raised  the  pale  young 
creature  in  his  arms,  and  applied  restorative 
measures ;  and,  half  an  hour  afterwards,  he  was 


THE  REDEEMED  HUSBAND.        51 

seen  driving  rapidly  towards  Leveret-street 
Jail,  with  Frances  May  seated  beside  him,  where 
both  alighted;  he  giving  to  her  that  support 
without  which  she  would  have  fallen.  They 
passed  within  the  gloomy  building;  a  few  sec- 
onds' delay  occurred ;  and  then,  preceded  by  the 
turnkey,  she  tottered,  rather  than  walked,  to  her 
husband's  Cell.  The  key  turned  gratingly  in  the 
lock,  the  ponderous  iron  door  swung  open,  she 
stepped  forward,  the  door  was  closed  and  locked 
behind  her,  and  Frances  May  was  alone  with 
her  guilty  husband.  She  moved  slowly  towards 
him,  gazed  into  his  haggard  face,  and  read  there 
a  whole  volume  of  suffering  and  sorrow ;  and 
every  shade  of  resentful  feeling  faded  from  her 
heart :  from  the  depths  of  her  soul  she  forgave 
and  pitied  him,  and  laying  her  head  upon  his 
bosom,  she  wept  like  an  infant.  The  first  burst 
of  feeling  being  over,  a  long  and  earnest  conver- 
sation occurred  between  the  twain  —  a  conver- 
sation of  confession,  of  despair,  remorse,  and 
extravagant  self-upbraiding,  on  the  part  of  one 
— of  extenuation,  of  forgiveness,  soothing,  and 
encouragement,  on  the  part  of  the  other.  It  was 
all  true,  the  story  of  his  guilty  life ;  and  with  his 
own  lips  James  May  confessed  himself  a  guilty 
man,  a  felon,  a  forger.  Not  because  born  for 
evil,  not  because  sin  was  the  element  he  loved 


52  OUR  DAY. 

the  best,  not  for  lack  of  kindly  affections,  or 
tenderness  of  heart,  had  he  strode  onwards  in 
dishonesty,  recreant  to  honor,  honesty,  and  do- 
mestic faithfulness,  but  through  an  early-devel- 
oped love  of  gaming,  so  intense,  so  infatuating, 
so  consuming,  that  it  had  seduced  him  on  and  on 
in  vice,  until  at  last  the  felon's  cell  embraced 
him  within  its  massive  and  frowning  walls,  a 
guilty,  daring  culprit. 

Often,  while  his  confiding  wife,  who  felt  his 
alienation  from  his  family,  and  perceived  the 
embarrassment  of  his  pecuniary  circumstances, 
but  was  unable  to  penetrate  to  the  cause  —  often, 
while  she  had  supposed  him  reluctantly  detained 
from  home  by  the  pressing  claims  of  business, 
had  he  been  wasting  the  hours  of  night  in  the 
society  of  the  vile  and  profligate,  —  rattling  the 
dice,  shuffling  the  cards,  or  rolling  the  billiard 
balls  —  polluting  his  lips  with  the  ribald  song 
and  the  blasphemous  oath,  —  and  lavishing  upon 
the  forms  of  beauty  that  flitted  around  him,  but 
to  lure  him  to  sin,  and  the  eyes  of  light  that 
shone,  but  to  lead  him  to  ruin,  those  blandish- 
ments of  affection  which  belonged  alone  to  her  — 
the  deserted  one.  All  this  did  James  May  con- 
fess to  his  wife,  and  much  more  ;  and  as  one  of 
old,  in  the  consciousness  of  guilt,  prayed  to  Him 
who  was  the  embodiment  of  purity,  "  Depart 


THE   REDEEMED   HUSBAND.  53 

from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man !  "  so  did  the 
conscience-stricken  husband  conclude  his  fearful 
revelations  of  the  past  to  his  injured  and  inno- 
cent wife,  with  the  prayer  that  she  would  cast 
him  off  for  ever,  account  him  as  one  of  the  dead, 
and  leave  him  to  meet  alone  the  rigors  of  the 
offended  law. 

No  wonder  that  Frances  May  went  forth  from 
that  interview  with  a  face  of  marble  whiteness, 
and  passed  another  long  night  in  agony  that  was 
speechless,  from  the  inadequacy  of  words  to 
express  it.  No  wonder,  that,  as  she  bowed  be- 
fore God,  her  overwhelmed  spirit  could  find  no 
utterance  of  its  big  and  bitter  sorrow,  and  that 
her  supplications  to  Heaven  were  but  the  deep 
groans  of  a  nearly  broken  heart.  The  playmate 
of  her  childhood  —  the  companion  of  her  girl- 
hood —  the  chosen  one  of  her  heart  —  the  father 
of  her  children  —  how  far  had  he  fallen  !  How 
entirely  had  he  forfeited  the  love  and  respect  of 
all  who  knew  him,  and  how  had  he  cast  himself 
down  to  the  lowest  depths  of  degradation  !  But 
would  Frances  May  now  cast  off  for  ever  her 
sinning  husband  ?  and  would  the  entreaties  of  her 
aristocratic  friends  and  relatives  that  he  might 
henceforth  be  left  to  his  own  fate,  and  that  the 
interests  and  sympathies  of  the  twain  might  be 
hereafter  eternally  divorced,  avail  with  her? 


54  OUR   DAT. 

Never !  never  !  Not  thus  had  she  loved  him ;  and 
as  she  thought  of  him,  guilt-bowed  and  sorrow- 
stricken  in  his  lonely  cell,  and  beheld  his  face 
in  miniature  in  the  innocent  countenances  of 
her  blessed  children,  her  whole  soul  went  out  to 
him  in  love  and  pity,  and  she  resolved  that  she 
would  prove  his  savior,  and  would  win  him  back 
to  goodness. 

Morning  came,  and  no  expostulations  or 
angry  threats  could  detain  Frances  May  from 
the  City  Jail.  Another  hour  was  passed  in  that 
dim  cell,  and  oh !  how,  like  an  angel  of  God,  she 
pleaded  with  her  husband  to  form  purposes  of 
reformation  which  would  be  immediately  acted 
upon  ;  to  bear  submissively  the  punishment 
attached  to  his  crime  by  the  law ;  so  that  when 
his  guilt  should  be  expiated,  and  his  term  of 
imprisonment  ended,  he  would  come  forth  into 
society  a  reformed  man!  How  she  reminded 
him  of  the  innocent  days  of  youth,  of  the  bless- 
edness of  a  clear  conscience  and  an  unstained 
heart ;  and  how  she  sought,  by  an  outpouring  of 
her  own  affection,  to  win  back  his  love  to  herself 
and  her  babes ! 

Visit  followed  visit,  each  performing  more  and 
more  the  holy  work  of  reformation,  and  strength- 
ening, in  the  secrecy  of  the  soul,  that  good  will- 
ing, which  must  necessarily  precede  good  acting, 


THE   REDEEMED    HUSBAND.  55 

until  the  day  of  trial  came  ;  when  Frances  May 
appeared  in  the  crowded  court-room,  that  her 
presence  might  sustain  the  prisoner.  Too  timid 
to  lift  her  eyes  beneath  the  gaze  of  the  curious 
multitude,  she  was  yet  strong  in  heart  to  endure 
any  extreme  of  disgrace  with  her  husband  ;  and 
although  the  public  revelations  of  his  dissipa- 
tion, inconstancy,  and  dishonesty,  seemed  to 
destroy  the  sympathy  of  others  for  him,  and 
sometimes  paled  her  cheek  with  strong  emo- 
tion, or  crimsoned  it  with  shame,  they  dimmed 
not  the  look  of  love  which  she  bent  upon  him, 
nor  infused  into  her  heart  an  emotion  of  anger. 
"  Guilty "  was  the  verdict  of  the  empanelled 
jury,  and  "Ten  years'  imprisonment  and  hard 
labor  in  the  State  Prison"  was  the  sentence 
pronounced  upon  him :  a  doom  which  his  wife 
shuddered  to  hear ;  for  she  feared  lest  hope 
would  expire,  and  good  resolutions  would  vanish, 
and  evil  passions  would  attain  fearful  supremacy, 
during  that  long  confinement. 

Noble  woman !  how  she  soothed,  and  encour- 
aged, and  calmed  him,  and  depicted  the  far-off 
future  that  would  succeed  his  release  in  pleasing 
colors  ;  until,  like  herself,  he  became  submissive, 
and  resolved  to  do  right  to  the  utmost  of  his 
ability !  And  how  she  hushed  his  self-upbraid- 
ings  and  expressions  of  remorse,  and  kissed 


56  OUR   DAT. 

away  his  tears  as  he  wept  over  his  children,  who 
visited  him  the  day  before  his  removal  to  Char- 
lestown,  and  promised  that  they  should  be  taught 
to  love  and  cherish  him !  And,  though  her  own 
heart  was  nearly  breaking  with  sorrow  at  the 
dismal  future  before  them  both,  she  yet  spake 
cheerily  to  him,  and  smiled  her  sweetest  upon 
him,  and  bade  him  be  of  good  cheer,  for  better 
days  were  yet  in  store  for  him.  Noble  Frances  ! 
would  that  every  child  of  guilt  and  sin,  every 
imprisoned  criminal,  possessed  a  friend  of  kin- 
dred faithfulness  and  affection,  —  a  friend  of  like 
goodness  and  devotion ! 

James  May  entered  upon  his  long  and  dreary 
term  of  penance ;  and  from  that  day  Frances 
commenced  the  execution  of  a  plan,  in  the 
devising  of  which  she  took  no  counsel,  save 
that  of  her  own  loving  and  self-denying  heart. 
Her  native  taste  and  skill  enabled  her  to  suc- 
ceed admirably  as  a  dress-maker ;  and  to  this 
occupation  she  declared  her  intention  to  devote 
herself.  It  was  to  her  a  slight  thing  that  her 
friends  opposed  this  measure,  and  offered  to  her- 
self and  children  an  almost  luxurious  home : 
her  plans  embraced  more  than  mere  provision 
for  her  own  and  children's  necessities.  Ten 
years  hence,  a  reformed  and  beloved  husband 
would  be  released  from  prison ;  and  she  knew 


THE  REDEEMED  HUSBAND.        57 

how  depressing  to  him  would  be  the  prospect  of 
commencing  life  anew,  without  friends,  without 
character,  without  money,  with  a  family  depend- 
ing upon  him  for  support ;  and  for  the  exigencies 
of  that  period  she  now  aimed  to  prepare.  Day 
and  night  she  toiled ;  soon  her  little  work-room 
was  exchanged  for  a  larger,  the  number  of  her 
apprentices  increased,  and  experienced  assistants 
were  employed ;  and,  by-and-by,  she  was  not 
able  even  to  superintend,  alone,  her  extensive 
establishment :  her  patrons  were  numerous,  and 
included  some  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  aristo- 
cratic families  of  the  city. 

Meanwhile,  her  attentions  to  her  husband 
were  unremitted,  her  visits  frequent,  her  con- 
versation cheerful  and  encouraging,  elevating 
and  ennobling;  and  thus  was  effectually  coun- 
teracted the  evil  influence  which  the  severity 
of  prison  discipline  might  else  have  exerted,  the 
overbearing  domination  of  haughty  officers,  or 
the  "  evil  communications  which  corrupt  good 
manners."  Never  longed  the  hungry  for  food, 
or  the  thirsty  for  water,  more  than  James  May 
longed  for  these  occasional  visits  from  his  wife ; 
and  it  would  not  be  easy  to  decide,  whether  the 
love  which  he  had  felt  for  her  in  the  earliest 
days  of  their  affection  was  comparable  to  that 
which  he  now  manifested. 
4 


58  OUR   DAT. 

Time  hasted  onwards,  and  gradually  slipped 
away   the  ten   years,  which,   in   prospect,   had 
seemed  almost  interminable.     Never  for  a  mo- 
ment had  the  true  heart  of  the  wife  been  turned 
aside  from  her  purpose,  —  the  ultimate  and  com- 
plete redemption  of  her  husband.     Never  for  a 
moment  had  she  regarded  with  favor  any  of  the 
manifold  schemes  of  her  friends  to  promote  her 
own  interests,  dissociated  from  those  of  her  hus- 
band, nor  listened  to  their  entreaties  that  she 
would  disconnect  her  fate  from  his.     And  when, 
at  the  expiration  of  the  eighth  year  of  his  impri- 
sonment, friends  interceded  for  a  lover  of  wealth 
and  influence,  who  had  laid  at  her  feet  his  heart 
and  his  fortune,  urging  her  acceptance  of  him  on 
the  ground  that  her  husband's  already  length- 
ened term  of  confinement  had  legally  divorced 
her  from  him,  and  that  the  eager  aspirations  of 
her  gifted  and  intellectual  son  demanded  exten- 
sive means  of  improvement,  and  the  frail  and 
delicate  health  of  her  daughter  a  freedom  from 
care  and  labor  that  could  not  otherwise  be  ob- 
tained ;   she  spurned   them  from  her  presence 
with  an  outburst  of  contemptuous   indignation 
which  made  them  quail  before  her,  and  forbade 
them  any  farther  intrusion  on  her  private  affairs, 
in  tones  of  authority  and  decision  that  precluded 
reply. 


THE    REDEEMED    HTSBA3O).  59 

The  day  came  at  last,  —  long  wished  for  and 
desired  ;  and  James  May  was  liberated  from  his 
long  durance,  and  set  without  the  prison  walls. 
Oh  the  joy  with  which  he  was  welcomed  home 
by  his  little  family !  His  wife  and  his  children 
clung  round  his  neck,  weeping  for  very  gladness ; 
and,  as  his  own  tears  mingled  with  theirs,  he 
asked  again  and  again,  "  Can  you,  indeed,  be  so 
glad  that  I  am  released  ?  "  The  neat  and  taste- 
fully arranged  rooms  of  their  dwelling,  —  how 
magnificent  they  seemed,  by  contrast,  with  the 
stern,  rugged,  and  contracted  cell,  in  which  he 
had  dwelt  for  the  last  ten  years !  How  luxurious 
seemed  their  fare  !  how  ample  their  accommoda- 
tions! Every  thing  that  the  watchful  love  of 
his  wife  could  suggest  had  been  done  to  render 
this  first  evening  of  his  return  pleasant ;  and, 
when  a  few  of  his  former  acquaintances  who 
had  approved  of  and  sympathized  in  the  mea- 
sures of  Frances  relative  to  her  husband,  came, 
by  previous  invitation,  to  pass  the  evening  with 
them,  and  spake  kindly  and  encouragingly  to  the 
repentant  man,  his  feelings  overpowered  him ; 
and  he  hastened  from  the  room,  to  disburden  his 
heart  of  the  grateful  emotion  which  overflowed 
it,  in  thankful  prayer. 

But  when,  on  thev  next  day,  he  expressed 
some  anxiety  to  obtain  speedy  employment,  and 


60  OUR   DAY. 

his  wife  brought  forward  a  small  book,  showing 
her  amount  of  bank  deposits  to  exceed  somewhat 
a  thousand  dollars,  which  she  placed  in  his  hand, 
with  the  request  that  he  would  consider  it  his 
own,  and  use  it  as  such ;  and  when  he  learned 
what  constant  toil  and  rigid  economy  had  ob- 
tained this  sum,  what  love  had  prompted  the 
labor,  and  sustained  his  wife  throughout  her  toils 
and  cares,  James  May  bowed  his  head  upon  the 
table,  and  wept,  as  man  seldom  weeps,  until  his 
whole  frame  was  convulsed  with  the  violent 
emotion. 

"  Frances,"  said  the  grateful  being,  when  he 
could  speak,  taking  her  hand  reverently  within 
his  own,  "  your  love  is  only  surpassed  by  the 
love  of  Christ ;  and,  like  his,  it  is  bestowed  upon 
so  unworthy  an  object,  that,  although  it  has 
become  my  very  element  of  life,  I  am  yet  over- 
powered by  it.  Oh !  if  ever  again  I  neglect  and 
forget  you,  as  I  have  done,  may  God  neglect  me 
when  most  I  need  his  aid,  and  forget  me,  when 
he  calls  home  his  children  to  heaven." 

The  next  day  a  clerkship  was  offered  to  James 
May,  through  the  tireless  exertions  of  his  wife ; 
and  then  the  amount  of  severely  earned  money 
received  another  appropriation, — no  less  a  one 
than  the  defrayal  of  his  noble  son's  college 
expenses.  Time  passed  away,  and  Frances  May 


THE  REDEEMED  HUSBAND.        61 

saw,  with  unutterable  gratitude,  that  her  hus- 
band's reformation  was  permanent;  that  there 
was  an  abiding  renovation  of  his  moral  nature ; 
and  that  his  loathing  and  dread  of  his  former 
vices  were  too  intense  to  allow  of  a  relapse  into 
sin.  He  was  a  truly  redeemed  man  ;  and  to  the 
quenchless,  fathomless  love  of  his  wife,  was  due 
the  praise  of  his  redemption. 

Often,  as  James  May  contemplates  his  present 
happy  position,  surrounded  by  earthly  blessings, 
winning  more  and  more  the  good  opinions  of 
those  who  once  believed  him  dead  to  every 
virtue,  his  life  rendered  useful  and  happy,  he 
turns  to  his  loving  and  beloved  wife,  and  says : 
"  If  every  criminal  had  as  kind  and  never- 
wearied  a  friend  as  I  have  found  in  you,  and 
if  to  all  the  same  love  was  manifested,  the  same 
encouragement  given,  the  same  helping  hand 
extended,  and  the  same  deep  interest  felt,  society 
would  soon  cease  to  need  its  prisons  and  peni- 
tentiaries." 


62 


THE  REWARD. 

BT  J.   6.   WHITTIER. 

WHO,  looking  backward  from  his  manhood's  prime, 
Sees  not  the  spectre  of  his  misspent  time  ; 

And,  through  the  shade 
Of  funeral  cypress,  planted  thick  behind, 
Hears  no  reproachful  whisper  on  the  wind 

From  his  loyed  dead  ? 

Who  bears  no  trace  of  passion's  evil  force  ? 
Who  shuns  thy  sting,  O  terrible  Remorse  ? 

Who  would  not  cast 
Half  of  his  future  from  him,  but  to  win 
Wakeless  oblivion  for  the  wrong  and  sin 

Of  the  sealed  Past? 

Alas  !  the  evil,  which  we  fain  would  shun, 
We  do,  and  leave  the  wished-for  good  undone ; 

Our  strength  to-day 

Is  but  to-morrow's  weakness,  prone  to  fall ; 
Poor,  blind,  unprofitable  servants  all, 

Are  we  alway. 


THE    REWARD.  63 

Tet  who,  thus  looking  backward  o'er  his  years, 
Feels  not  his  eye-lids  wet  with  grateful  tears, 

If  he  hath  been 

Permitted,  weak  and  sinful  as  he  was, 
To  cheer  and  aid,  in  some  ennobling  cause, 

His  fellow-men  ? 

If  he  hath  hidden  the  outcast  or  let  in 
A  ray  of  sunshine  to  the  cell  of  sin ; 

If  he  hath  lent 

Strength  to  the  weak,  and,  in  an  hour  of  need, 
Over  the  suffering,  mindless  of  his  creed 

Or  hue,  hath  bent : 

He  has  not  lived  in  vain ;  and,  while  he  gives 
The  praise  to  Him  in  whom  he  moves  and  lives, 

With  thankful  heart, 

He  gazes  backward,  and  with  hope  before, 
Knowing  that  from  his  works  he  never  more 

Can  henceforth  part 


DEATH  OF  N.  P.  ROGERS. 

BY.  J.  0.  ADAMS. 

[We  had  the  promise  of  a  contribution  from  Mr.  Rogers  for  this 
work  from  his  pen  ;  but  death  has  prevented  the  fulfilment  of  that 
promise.  He  cannot  write  for  us.  Deep  respect,  and  love  for  a 
noble  heart,  impels  us  to  write  our  humble  word  for  him.] 

A  LIGHT  in  Freedom's  temple  dimmed ! 

A  star  gone  from  our  northern  sky ! 
A  requiem  for  the  noble,  hymned 

In  Love's  deep  harmony ! 

No  little  earthly  king  is  dead; 

No  warrior  in  Mood-contest  slain ; 
But  one  whose  hero-soul  was  wed 

To  Truth's  great  strife  and  gain ; 

Who,  not  with  zeal  for  sect  or  clan, 
In  stinted  words  his  message  brought ; 

But,  in  deep  love  for  suffering  Man, 
Dared,  uttered,  lived,  and  wrought. 

He  scorned  what  others  might  allow, 
To  ask  what  Church  or  State  would  say, 

When  Wrong  was  bold ;  —  the  Eight !  and  now 
Let 's  follow  and  obey ! 


DEATH    OF   N.   P.   ROGERS.  65 

Though  small  the  day  when  first  he  gave 
True  heart  and  hand  in  manhood's  cause, 

Yet,  in  his  lore  of  duty,  brave, 
He  could  not  quail  nor  pause. 

By  silver  lake  and  winding  stream, 
And  up  where  mountain  cloud-wreaths  hung, 

In  busy  mart  and  hermit's  dream, 
His  pealing  trump-notes  rung. 

They  waked  the  echoes  far  and  near, 
Called  many  a  true-born  witness  forth ; 

Life-soldier  in  this  new  career 
Of  Freedom  in  the  North. 

Brave  spirit !  more  like  thee  we  need, 

In  this  our  world's  great  conflict-hour, 
To  sow,  with  trusting  hand,  Truth's  seed, 

And  wait  her  ripening  power. 


66 


THE  ALLEGED  INFERIORITY  OF  THE 
AFRICAN  RACE. 


BY  REV.   C.  STETSOX. 


THE  indifference  with  which  the  wrongs  of 
the  blacks  are  regarded  among  us  may  be 
traced,  in  part,  to  the  prevalent  belief  that  they 
are  an  inferior  order  of  beings.  "  I  don't  call  a 
nigger  a  man,"  said  a  sprightly  boy  of  fifteen  to 
me,  in  reply  to  some  expression  of  sympathy 
with  this  much-injured  race.  He  was  of  a  good 
family,  well  educated,  and  had  at  least  the  aver- 
age share  of  humane  and  generous  feeling.  But 
he  spoke  heedlessly  upon  a  subject  which  had 
never  occupied  his  mind,  or  touched  his  heart. 
He  gave  utterance,  not  to  any  conviction  of  his 
own,  but  to  a  vague  impression  in  the  public 
mind.  The  word  "  nigger  "  expresses  a  common 
feeling.  It  is  a  term  of  contempt,  used  by  young 
and  old;  often  thoughtlessly,  but  not  the  less 
is  it  an  indication  of  the  popular  feeling.  When 
we  call  a  colored  man  a  negro,  we  employ  a 


INFERIORITY   OF   THE   AFRICAN    RACE.      67 

proper  distinctive  term,  implying  nothing  re- 
proachful or  offensive.  But  "  nigger  "  is  a  vul- 
gar nickname,  always  carrying  with  it  something 
of  scorn  and  insult.  In  almost  every  town  in 
New  England,  there  is  one,  at  least,  of  these 
unfortunate  persons,  who  is  looked  upon  by  the 
boys  as  fair  game.  "Without  any  conscious  ma- 
lignity of  purpose,  they  feel  at  liberty  to  make 
him  the  butt  of  their  ridicule,  and  the  object  of 
all  manner  of  mockeries  and  practical  jokes  ;  as 
if  he  were  a  creature  ludicrously  aping  the  form, 
without  having  the  feelings,  of  a  man.  And,  as 
might  be  expected,  they  grow  up  with  the  idea 
that  negroes  are  something  less  than  men,  des- 
tined by  the  Creator  to  a  servile  condition ;  and 
not  greatly  wronged,  therefore,  by  being  made 
the  slaves  and  drudges  of  a  higher  race. 

This  alleged  inferiority  of  the  negro  to  the 
white  man  is  relied  upon,  I  think,  as  the  best 
defence  of  American  Slavery ;  for  I  do  not 
know  that  the  selling  of  our  white  fellow-citizens 
into  slavery  by  the  Algerines  has  ever  been 
justified  in  this  country.  In  the  present  de- 
graded state  of  the  African  race,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  such  inferiority  actually  exists.  So 
were  the  Northmen,  our  ancestors,  an  inferior 
race,  as  compared  with  the  modern  man  of  Old 
or  New  England.  When  they  landed  on  the 


68  OUR  DAY. 

shores  of  Britain,  —  fierce,  red-haired,  shaggy 
pirates,  —  it  may  be  doubted  whether  they  were 
not  below  the  negroes  of  this  country  at  the 
present  day,  in  all  the  finer  attributes  of  huma- 
nity. 

The  wretched  mode  of  life,  to  which  the 
oppressions  of  many  centuries  have  doomed  the 
Africans,  makes  it  impossible  to  determine  what 
would  be  the  result,  if  they  had  a  fair  chance  to 
unfold  their  powers.  A  flower  cannot  put  forth 
its  sweetest  fragrance,  nor  a  tree  its  richest  fruit, 
under  the  cold  mountain's  shadow.  The  un- 
happy negroes,  crushed  down  by  a  barbarian 
despotism  at  home,  by  a  still  more  merciless 
despotism  as  the  slaves  of  civilization  abroad, 
may  have  wrapped  up  in  their  being  the  rudi- 
ments of  all  that  is  great  and  noble ;  as  certain 
seeds  lie  buried  in  cold  and  shady  places,  wait- 
ing for  the  sunshine  of  genial  circumstances  to 
make  them  germinate,  and  grow,  and  bear  their 
proper  fruits.  Many  an  African  Plato,  Shaks- 
peare,  Newton,  Franklin,  or  "Washington,  may 
thus  lie  "  in  cold  obstruction." 

Civilized  man  has  defrauded  the  soul  of  his 
victim  of  all  genial  culture  and  nourishment ; 
systematically  kept  him  down,  as  near  as  possi- 
ble, to  a  brute,  that  he  might  be  a  more  willing 
slave;  and  then  made  his  inferiority  an  argu- 


INFERIORITY   OF   THE    AFRICAN    RACE.       69 

ment  for  holding  him  in  perpetual  bondage ! 
Is  not  the  fact,  that  the  master  dares  not  educate 
his  slave,  an  admission  of  the  slave's  capacity 
to  become  a  man,  capable  of  understanding  and 
maintaining  the  rights  of  manhood  ?  The  negro, 
at  present,  has  a  low  physical  organization. 
With  all  his  disadvantages,  under  such  a  system 
of  outrage,  —  deprived  of  all  means  of  physical 
comfort  and  moral  improvement,  —  he  cannot  be 
a  finely  organized  man.  It  is  said  by  English- 
men, who  are  curious  in  the  breeding  of  horses, 
that  it  requires  five  generations  of  careful  train- 
ing to  secure  a  first-rate  hunter.  And  it  will,  no 
doubt,  require  several  generations  of  physical 
improvement  and  intellectual  culture,  under  the 
inspiring  influences  of  freedom  and  Christianity, 
to  raise  the  organization  of  the  blacks  to  the 
level  of  our  own.  The  wonder  is,  not  that  they 
are  deficient  in  some  of  the  higher  attributes  of 
civilized  man,  but  that,  out  of  the  dim  depths  of 
their  misery  and  debasement,  so  many  persons 
of  eminent  ability  have  emerged. 

Among  these,  one  of  the  most  remarkable, 
not  much  known  in  this  country,  was  Alexander 
Pushkin,  the  poet  and  historian  of  Russia ;  the 
favorite  alike  of  the  emperor  and  the  people. 
He  died  about  ten  years  ago ;  and  though  he 
had  reached  only  the  age  of  thirty-seven,  he 


70  OUR  DAT. 

was  declared  to  be  the  only  man  who  could  wear 
with  honor  the  mantles  of  Derzhavin  and  Kar- 
amsin.  His  maternal  grandfather  was  a  negro 
named  Annibal,  who  was  patronized  by  the  czar, 
and  held  a  commission  in  his  naval  service. 
Pushkin  dedicated  more  than  one  of  his  poems 
to  the  memory  of  the  black  sea-captain  ;  and  his 
works  contain  frequent  allusions  to  his  own  Afri- 
can blood.  His  loosely-curled,  wiry  hair,  his 
mobile  and  irregular  features,  and  dark  complex- 
ion, betrayed  his  negro  origin,  of  which  he  was 
never  ashamed.  In  view  of  such  examples  of 
intellectual  and  moral  greatness  as  Pushkin, 
Alexander  Dumas,  Toussaint  L'Ouverture,  Pe- 
tion,  Placido,  Henry  Bibb,  and  Frederick  Doug- 
lass, shall  an  ordinary  white  man  dare  to  despise 
and  flout  the  race  from  which  they  sprung,  as 
beings  of  a  lower  order  than  himself?  The 
many  thousands  who  have  listened  with  breath- 
less interest  to  the  burning  eloquence  of  free- 
dom from  some  of  these,  —  so  lately  unlettered, 
branded,  whip-scarred  slaves,  —  must  regard 
them  as  Heaven-taught  sons  of  genius,  whose 
indomitable  spirit  the  white  man's  insolent  op- 
pressions could  not  break.  If  men  like  these 
are  indeed  children  of  a  race  so  abject  as  to  be 
rightfully  denied  the  privilege  and  liberty  of 
manhood,  then  we  must  regard  them  —  as  cer- 


INFERIORITY   OF   THE   AFRICAN   RACE.      71 

tain  nations  do  their  idiots  and  maniacs  —  as 
chosen  vehicles  of  Divine  inspiration.  The  elo- 
quence of  the  negro  is  the  white  man's  shame 
and  condemnation. 

In  the  poor,  despised,  and  oppressed  African, 
we  see  a  man  and  a  brother.  In  his  follies  and 
vices,  in  his  loves  and  hatreds,  in  his  virtues, 
passions,  and  weaknesses,  we  recognize  our 
common  humanity.  We  feel  the  truth  of  St. 
Paul's  affirmation,  "  God  hath  made  of  one  blood 
all  the  nations  of  men."  If  we  find  the  colored 
race,  on  the  average,  inferior  in  capacity  to  our 
own,  we  are  bound  to  consider  what  has  made 
them  so.  They  have  been  denied  their  share 
of  the  advantages  which  society  affords  to  the 
meanest  white  man.  They  have  been  rudely 
thrust  out  of  the  pale  of  those  impulses,  en- 
couragements, and  hopes,  by  which  great  aspira- 
tions are  kindled  in  the  soul,  and  great  powers 
often  called  forth  from  the  obscurity  of  humblest 
life.  But  what  chance  has  the  negro,  even  the 
free  negro,  to  find  countenance  and  friendly 
sympathy  in  any  sphere  of  thought  or  action, 
that  would  call  into  exercise  the  higher  faculties 
of  man  ?  With  all  the  disadvantages  of  his 
position,  is  it  strange  that  his  mind  should  not 
freely  unfold  itself,  and  that  he  should  show  but 
little  originality  and  invention  ?  But  if,  in  these 


72  OUE  DAY. 

respects,  he  is  inferior  to  the  white  man,  it  does 
not  appear  that  he  is  so  in  all. 

In  natural  eloquence,  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
negroes  surpass  all  other  races  ;  and  this  gift 
implies  the  possession  of  some  of  the  highest 
faculties  of  the  mind.  I  need  not  speak  of 
their  great  orators,  whose  speeches  are  now 
startling  the  world  from  its  slumber ;  men  whose 
memory  will  live  for  ever  in  history.  We  have 
heard  many  an  unlettered  slave,  just  broken 
loose  from  his  iron  bondage,  pouring  out  his 
deep  emotions  in  words  of  power  and  life,  that 
stir  men's  souls  like  the  blast  of  the  trumpet. 
I  know  not  whence  comes  this  gift  of  speech  to 
an  ignorant  and  degraded  race.  A  New  Eng- 
land man  of  ordinary  education,  called  upon  to 
address  a  strange  audience  under  like  circum- 
stances, would  be  struck  dumb,  or  be  able  to 
utter  himself  only  in  vague  and  incoherent  bab- 
blings. 

In  the  faculty  of  imitation,  and  the  capacity  to 
appreciate  and  adopt  the  civilization  of  a  more 
favored  race,  the  African  has  probably  no  equal. 
Take  a  North  American  savage  from  his  forest 
home  ;  give  him  for  years  all  the  advantages  of 
education  and  society  that  we  enjoy ;  and  the 
chances  are  that  he  will  remain  a  savage  still. 
But  the  negro,  torn  away  from  his  home  and 


INFERIORITY    OF    THE   AFRICAN   RACE.       73 

country,  sold  to  a  merciless  slave-trader,  sub- 
jected to  the  horrors  of  the  middle  passage,  and 
at  length  landed  on  a  foreign  shore,  to  be  sold 
again  to  a  taskmaster,  becomes  forthwith  a  civil- 
ized man.  No  human  being  is  so  ready  as  he  to 
adopt  whatever  improvement  is  offered,  and 
learn  whatever  can  be  learned,  from  those  who 
are  more  advanced  than  himself  in  the  arts  and 
amenities  of  life.  A  spirit  so  imitative,  so  docile, 
so  receptive  of  good  from  every  quarter,  is  emi- 
nently fitted  to  move  onward  near  to  the  front 
rank,  if  not  to  take  the  lead,  in  the  progress  of 
human  improvement. 

The  noblest  elements  of  character,  however, 
are  not  intellectual,  but  moral  attributes ;  and  in 
these  the  African,  with-  equal  advantages,  might 
perhaps  be  found  to  have  the  advantage  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race.  His  nature  is  more  conge- 
nial than  ours  with  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  He 
is  less  proud,  fierce,  arrogant,  and  self-willed. 
He  has  gentler  and  kinder  affections ;  and  more 
of  the  meek,  humble,  and  submissive  temper, 
which  receives  the  gospel  of  Christ  as  a  little 
child,  and  reposes  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father's  love 
with  a  child-like  faith  and  trust.  Dr.  Channing, 
who  had  meditated  upon  the  African  character 
and  condition  with  profounder  insight  than  al- 
most any  man  of  the  age,  expressed  the  opinion 


74  OUR    DAY. 

that  the  Christian  religion  was  yet  to  receive  its 
highest  and  most  beautiful  development  in  the 
negro  race.  For,  in  the  natural  characteristics 
of  that  race,  the  obedient,  peaceful,  and  loving 
spirit  of  Jesus  meets  with  less  antagonism  than 
in  those  of  any  other  people. 

No  one  who  has  given  earnest  attention  to 
this  subject,  can  doubt  that  there  are  in  the 
African  nature  fine  elements,  which  need  free- 
dom and  generous  culture  only,  to  be  unfolded 
into  great  excellence  and  beauty  of  character. 
If  the  negro  race  is,  in  some  respects,  inferior  to 
the  Anglo-Saxon,  in  other,  and  quite  as  import- 
ant respects,  it  may  be  found  to  have  the  supe- 
riority. I  cannot,  therefore,  feel  any  respect  for 
a  defence  of  slavery  resting  on  the  assumption 
that  the  blacks  are  a  lower  order  of  beings, 
incapable  of  taking  care  of  themselves,  and  fit 
only  to  be  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water 
to  their  arrogant  masters.  For,  if  we  admit  the 
fact  of  their  inferior  capacity,  I  would  found  on 
that  very  fact  the  strongest  plea  for  their  deliv- 
erance and  social  elevation.  The  unfortunate 
negro  —  whether  a  slave  or  a  freeman,  always 
despised  and  persecuted  —  makes  the  touching 
appeal  to  our  hearts,  "  Am  I  not  a  man  and  a 
brother  ?  "  And  shall  we  stop  to  inquire  whether 
he  is  our  equal  or  our  inferior,  before  we  put 


INFERIORITY   OF   THE    AFRICAN    RACE.      75 

forth  our  hand  to  lift  off  his  crushing  burden  of 
misery  and  oppression  ?  His  degradation  is  his 
strongest  claim  to  our  pity  and  help.  As  a 
Christian  people,  we  read  our  duty  to  an  inferior 
race  in  the  words  of  Jesus :  "  The  princes  of  the 
Gentiles  lord  it  over  them,  and  their  great  ones 
exercise  a  tyrannical  authority.  But  it  shall  not 
be  so  among  you.  But  whosoever  will  be  great 
among  you,  shall  be  your  minister ;  and  whoso- 
ever of  you  will  be  the  chiefest,  shall  be  the  ser- 
vant of  alL"  The  spirit  of  Christ  is  large,  liberal, 
universal ;  comprehending  in  the  range  of  its 
beneficence  the  whole  brotherhood  of  man.  It 
teaches  us  that  it  is  especially  the  duty  of  those 
who  are  foremost  in  the  grand  procession  of 
humanity  to  render  disinterested  service  to  the 
ignorant  and  degraded  ones,  who  are  too  feeble 
or  blind  to  follow  with  equal  pace.  They  pine 
in  bondage  and  in  sore  distress  for  want  of  the 
brotherly  sympathy  and  aid  which  it  is  our  priv- 
ilege to  afford.  "I  have  shown  you,"  said  St. 
Paul,  "  how  that  so  laboring  ye  ought  to  support 
the  weak." 

So  kind  and  affectionate  is  the  spirit  of  Jesus  ; 
and  such  must  be  the  spirit  of  every  truly  Chris- 
tian people.  It  is  a  far-reaching,  all-embracing 
benevolence.  Wherever  a  human  being  is,  there 
it  recognizes  a  child  of  God  and  a  brother,  with 


76  OUK    DAY. 

profound  sensibility  to  his  sorrows  and  wrongs. 
"  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  This 
is  the  great  central  law  of  the  social  system, 
which  Christ  would  establish  upon  the  earth; 
and  by  his  own  interpretation  of  this  law,  every 
one  is  our  neighbor  whose  sufferings  our  sym- 
pathy can  mitigate,  or  our  charity  relieve. 
Oceans,  rivers,  mountains,  parallels  of  latitude, 
boundaries  of  states,  can  never  make  any  part 
of  the  human  family  aliens  to  their  fellow-men. 
From  whatever  quarter  or  distance  the  cry  of 
human  wretchedness  comes,  it  touches  our  hearts 
as  the  wail  of  a  brother's  agony.  But  these 
poor,  dark-colored  brothers  and  sisters  of  ours, 
though  of  African  blood,  are  our  own  country- 
men ;  born,  for  the  most  part,  in  this  land  of 
freedom  and  equal  rights.  They  are  suffering 
under  our  laws,  usages,  and  prejudices.  And  if 
their  souls  have  been  crippled,  dwarfed,  and 
blinded,  by  our  injustice,  all  the  more  impera- 
tively are  we  called  upon  to  afford  them  pity  and 
relief. 


77 


THE  FUGITIVE  SLAVE. 

BT  REV.   HENRY  BACON. 

"  Canada  and  hearen,"  he  said,  "  are  the  oulj-  two  places  that  the 
slaye  sighed  for."  —  Brawn. 

MY  God !  and  is  it  so  ?     On  this  green  earth, 
So  fruitful  with  the  blood  of  martyred  sires, 

Is  there  no  spot  where  Freedom's  sons  have  birth, 
As  Nature's  priests,  to  feed  her  altar-fires, 

And  bid  the  flames  rise  up,  a  beacon-light, 

To  cheer  the  darkness  of  the  wanderer's  night  ? 

When  the  stretched  hands  and  awful  speaking  eye 
Plead  for  our  aid  to  rush  from  slavery  on, 

Is  there  no  spot  New  England's  mountains  nigh, 
Where  we  can  bid  the  despot's  imps  begone  ?  — 

No  spot  where  Law,  by  erring  man  laid  down, 

Shall  not  demand  the  crash  of  Freedom's  crown  ? 

Oh !  must  he  haste  from  where  the  shadow  lies 
Of  the  tall  pillar  reared  to  mighty  deeds ; 

And  seek  a  home  beneath  Canadian  skies, 

Though  toil-worn  nature  in  its  anguish  bleeds  ? 

While  still  the  accusing  cry  and  taunt  is  given, 

"  Shame  on  ye  here !    Canadian  lands,  or  heaven ! " 


78  OUR    DAT. 

Oh !  by  the  blood  that  mantles  to  the  cheek, 
That  tingles  in  each  vein  in  fiery  shame, 

Let  the  bold  lip  and  bolder  heart  outspeak 
The  vow  we  make  in  Freedom's  holy  name  ; 

That,  through  a  living  wall,  by  strokes  of  death, 

Alone  shall  despots  come  with  prison-breath. 

Oh !  when,  with  swollen  limbs  and  bleeding  feet, 
Beside  my  hearth  the  wanderer  sits  him  there, 

Thou  shalt,  my  brother,  full  protection  meet, 
Nor  tremble  more  with  thy  fierce,  dread  despair. 

Ay,  by  the  fires  that  kindle  in  my  soul, 

No  might  of  man  shall  there  his  fate  control. 

Firm  stand  the  hills  around  my  childhood's  home, 
Grand  wave  the  forests  in  their  native  pride, 

Swift  flow  the  streams  that  there  in  grandeur  roam, 
And  pour  their  treasures  to  the  Ocean  tide : 

From  hills  and  forests,  streams  and  mighty  sea, 

I  '11  learn  the  might  to  help  the  slave  be  free. 


79 


A  GLIMPSE. 


•T  WAS  erewhile  I  had  a  vision,  when  I  saw  each  varied  race 
Of  the  lords  of  earth  assembling  near  a  towering  mountain's  base : 
Some  were  winding  from  the  summit  downward  to  a  grassy  lea, 
Which  lay,  strewn  with  golden  flowers,  stretching  to  the  wavy  sea  ; 
And,  in  groups,  were  many  landing  along  the  sounding  shore, 
Some  from  strange-rigged  ships  and  barges  that  I  ne'er  had  seen 
before. 

There  I  saw  the  polished  German,  with  his  thought-enkindled  brow, 
Greet  the  Frenchman  and  the  Spaniard  ;   while  each  breathed  a 

friendly  vow. 

And  the  Anglo-Saxon  settler  of  Columbia's  wide-spread  lands 
With  the  Indian  aborigine  in  amity  shook  hands. 
There  the  pale  and  dwarfish  Icelander,  and  Afric's  sable  son, 
Mingled  with  the  varied  natives  of  Borneo  and  Ceylon. 

And  there,  too,  were  turbaned  Arabs,  and  imperial  Chinese, 

And,  from  beyond  the  sacred  Ganges,  the  swarthy  Siamese  ; 

The  Tartar,  Bit-man,  Tonquinese,  the  Thibetian,  and  Hindoo, 

In  strange  contrast  with  the  tribes  that  came  from  Chili  and  Pern. 

The  giant  Patagonian  stood  beside  the  Esquimaux, 

And  men  from  far-off  ocean  isles  were  wandering  to  and  fro. 

Rambling  ;mid  that  throng  were  natives  of  all  climes  beneath  the 

sun, 
And,  to  grace  a  festal  jubilee,  some  offering  brought  each  one  : 


80  OUR   DAY. 

Oleasters  from  Judea  ;  purple  grapes  from  sunny  France ; 

Date  and   cocoa  from  umbrageous   groves,  where  Caffre  children 

dance ; 

Luscious,  mellow  fruits  from  Cuba,  from  Cape  Verd,  and  Comoro ; 
Sweetest  spices  from  green  islands,  where  winds  perfume-laden  blow. 

Now  the  sun  poured  down  his  radiance  on  all  the  charmed  scene ; 
And,  for  miles, he  glazed  the  ocean  with  a  vermeil-tinted  sheen. 
In  the  gently-waving  tree-tops  birds  of  gorgeous  plumage  sang, 
And  then-  sweet,  melodious  warbling  with  entrancing  echo  rang. 
The  pulse  of  joy  ecstatic  seemed  to  thrill  the  blessed  air  ; 
For  gladness,  love,  and  purity,  and  peace,  were  everywhere. 

The  intent  of  this  vast  gathering  I  felt  curious  to  know, 

And  throughout  my  sentient  being  did  a  strange  emotion  glow  ; 

Like  that  mystic  intuition  which  so  often  in  our  dreams 

Doth  presage  the  truth,  though  dimly,  that,  when  wakened,  on  us 

gleams; 

Then,  as  unpent  water  riseth  in  a  fountain,  rose  the  thought 
Which  gave  answer  to  the  problem  why  this  interview  they  sought : 

And  I  shouted,  hi  my  rapture,  This  assemblage  bodeth  good ; 

'T  is  to  form  a  grand  Alliance  —  a  confederate  Brotherhood. 

Not  for  kingly  exaltation,  nor  for  sordid  traffic's  gain, 

Nor  to  palliate  oppression,  nor  to  forge  a  bigot's  chain ; 

But  with  quickening  afflatus  every  dormant  soul  to  move, 

And  to  girdle  Earth  with  freedom,  with  truth,  holiness,  and  love. 

Soon  I  learned  that  instantaneous  was  the  burning  impulse  felt, 
That  made  sectional  aversion's  triple-welded  fetters  melt ; 
Urging  every  delegation  hither  from  each  clime  remote, 
Giving  courage  to  the  voyagers  o'er  unfathomed  deeps  to  float  ; 
Novel  radiance  imparting,  that  in  every  feature  glowed, 
As  each  on  his  new  acquaintance  a  saluting  glance  bestowed. 

And  Earth's  languages,  so  various,  uttered  each  in  differing  tone, 
Became  somehow  strangely  molten,  and  soon  blended  into  one ; 


A    GLIMPSE.  81 

That  in  sweetness  ne'er  was  equalled  in  the  soft  Italian  clime, 
Where  the  dark -eyed  maidens'  voices  like  /Eolian  music  chime. 
Hatred's  harsh  discordance  vanished,  in  oblivious  silence  lulled ; 
For  meek  LOVE,  the  world's  new  empress,  Babel's  edict  had  annulled. 

Then  I  wandered  to  the  mountain ;  and,  ascending  to  its  height, 
Viewed  the  lovely  scene  beneath  me,  bathed  in  Summer's  golden 

light. 

There  I  lingered  till  the  rosy  beams  of  waning  day  had  passed 
Down  below  the  far  horizon,  and  the  gentle  Evening  cast 
O'er  the  mount  her  veil  of  shadows,  and  with  coolness  filled  the  air. 
And,  with  ocean  for  her  mirror,  placed  her  gems  within  her  hair. 

Gazing  upwards,  I  discovered  that  her  jewels  were  arranged 
In  new  figures  and  positions,  or  my  mood  their  aspect  changed ; 
As  we  sometimes,  in  our  musing,  lying  wakeful  on  our  bed, 
People  with  our  brain-wrought  images  the  ceiling  overhead. 
For  no  longer  seemed  Bootes  in  a  hunter's  garb  arrayed, 
Nor  seemed  Ursa  Major  fleeing,  his  pursuers  to  evade. 

Metamorphosed  was  Centaurus,  and  no  more  the  semblance  gave 
Of  a  being,  formed  half-human,  made  brute  passion's  fated  slave. 
Of  fierce  strife  and  grim  oppression  would  fair  Night  no  emblems 

yield ; 

Even  stalwart,  old  Orion  seemed  divested  of  his  shield  ; 
And  the  gentle  maid,  Andromeda,  from  bondage  found  release  ;  — 
All  the  signs  within  the  heavens  were  the  signs  of  love  and  peace. 

While  absorbed  in  contemplation,  gentle  sounds  I  seemed  to  hear, 
Through  the  night-air  floating  downward,  from  each  distant,  glitter- 
ing sphere ; 
And  I  listened,  till  life's  current  glided  raster  through  my  veins, 

the  soul-enchanting  music  of  those  soft,  symphonious  strains, 
Which  orb  after  orb  repeated,  till  the  chorus  died  away 
Where  resplendent  astral  systems  in  the  hazy  distance  lay. 


82  OUR   DAY. 

Clearly  then  were  voices  ringing,  low  at  first,  but  rising  higher, 
Chanting,   "  Are  we  not  all   brothers  ?    Have  we  not  one  glorious 

Sire  ?  » 

Though  the  tie  of  this  relation  I  had  felt  before  that  hour, 
It  had  never  thrilled  my  being  with  such  vitalizing  power. 
No  distinction  nor  credenda  my  free  sympathies  can  bind 
To  one  coterie  or  nation ;  I  AM  BROTHER  TO  MANKIND  ! 

ALPHONBO. 


83 


ANNIVERSARY  WEEK  IN  BOSTON. 


BT  J.  0.  ADAMS. 


IT  is  old  election-time  in  Massachusetts  —  the 
last  Wednesday  in  May  —  once  a  greater  day 
than  now,  but  yet  held  in  remembrance,  as  it 
doubtless  will  be  through  at  least  a  few  more 
generations.  The  actual  election-time  has  been 
changed  from  this  blooming  May  season  to  mid- 
winter ;  yet  some  of  the  "  pomp  "  if  less  of  the 
"  circumstance  "  of  the  occasion  remains. 

The  military  are  out ;  and  the  military  in 
Boston  seldom  go  begging  for  spectators.  Hark ! 
that  ringing  of  horns,  and  that  exhilarating  and 
inimitable  talk  of  Kendall's  clarionet,  bespeak 
one  of  the  best  bands  the  old  or  new  world  can 
hear.  It  is  with  "the  tigers,"*  (a  perfectly 
appropriate  name),  just  from  Faneuil  Hall,  and 
now  turning  up  into  State  Street.  Troops  of 
longer  or  shorter  boys  do  the  escort  duty  to  the 

*  A  familiar  name  for  the  Boston  Light  Infentry. 


84  OUR    DAT. 

citizen-soldiers ;  all  led  on  by  this  glorious  out- 
cry of  music,  as  it  sends  its  stirring  notes  among 
the  brick  and  stone  avenues  of  this  busy  city, 
and  in  at  each  door  or  window-chink,  calling 
even  the  most  abstracted  calculator  from  his 
ledger  or  bank-notes  to  gaze  and  listen  for  a 
moment,  as  the  soldierly  pageant  passes  on. 
Corresponding  indications  of  the  day  are  heard 
from  other  streets ;  and  echoes  and  reechoes  of 
glorious  martial  strains  come  breaking  in  on 
every  hand. 

Look  on  the  Common,  —  the  grand  old  Com- 
mon, —  so  long  known  as  one  of  the  chief  beauties, 
as  well  as  conveniences,  of  Boston.  Its  venera- 
ble old  elm,  "  the  elm,"  never  looked  down  on  a 
multitude  that  seemed  more  merry-hearted  than 
these  youthful  groups  seen  in  its  tidy  path- 
ways. Freshness  and  beauty  are  in  the  bending 
tree  branches,  on  the  green  grass  carpet,  and  in 
the  children's  faces.  More  order,  and  none  the 
less  joy,  do  we  find,  now  that  in  these  goodly 
temperance  days  the  alcoholic  exhibition  is  not  a 
part  of  the  election  show  on  the  Common.  The 
confectioners  are  here  ;  but  the  rum  dram-dealer 
has  no  place  in  this  entertainment,  except  as  a  spec- 
tator of  other  sales  than  those  in  his  immediate 
line.  This  is  as  it  should  be.  What  a  splendid 
panorama  comes  up  before  the  eye,  as  we  stand 


ANNIVERSARY   WEEK    IN    BOSTON.  85 

in  the  green  yard  of  the  State  House,  looking 
downwards  !  The  full  Common,  with  its  swarms 
in  their  spring  dresses,  military  and  all,  shifting 
among  the  trees  like  hues  of  the  kaleidoscope ; 
Park-street  spire,  and  the  long  and  noble  ranges 
of  buildings  wherein  the  elite  of  the  city  dwell ; 
and,  upon  our  right,  as  if  surveying  the  welcome 
scene,  the  old  Hancock  House,  —  a  veritable  Re- 
volutioner  of  the  glorious  past,  taking  quiet  note 
of  the  more  glorious  present.  Verily,  this  is 
none  other  than  Boston,  and  election  day. 

These,  however,  are  but  the  outward  indica- 
tions of  one  day.  Let  them  be  enjoyed  to  every 
heart's  brim !  Let  the  frolicksome  boys  and 
girls  "  have  their  time  out "  on  this  spacious 
Common,  and  in  the  full  streets ;  and  the  sol- 
diers, too,  and  all  the  older  spectators  of  their 
evolutions.  Let  this  day's  glory  and  joy  be  fully 
said,  sung,  and  written.  Yet  this  is  not  all  of 
Anniversary  Week. 

If  this  old  election  day  brings  out  the  soul  of 
military  soldiery,  so  does  the  whole  week  bring 
more  fully  and  effectually  out  the  soul  of  our 
moral  soldiery  hi  Massachusetts  and  New  Eng- 
land. No  mere  sword  and  plume,  fife  and  drum, 
small  beer  and  confectionary  exhibition  have  we 
here  now,  hi  this  renowned  Boston  ;  but  a 
greater  occasion  by  far.  Here  are  noblest  mus- 


86  OUR    DAY. 

terings,  surpassing  evolutions,  richest  entertain- 
ments. Here  are  warriors  armed  to  the  heart 
and  mouth,  blowing  strongest  blasts  from  their 
stirring  war-trumpets,  and  making  their  heavy 
cannonading  heard  all  over  the  land ;  and  its 
long  reverberations,  likely  as  not,  throughout  the 
world. 

Now  is  the  time  for  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
various  religious,  benevolent,  and  progress  asso- 
ciations, for  which  our  moral  agitators  have  been 
waiting  all  the  year.  Peace,  Prison  Discipline, 
Sabbath  School,  Missionary,  Education,  Tract, 
Bible,  Temperance,  Colonization,  Anti-slavery, 
Seaman's  Friend,  and  various  other  societies, 
now  have  their  yearly  reports  and  reckonings, 
and  so  their  different  representations.  Scores  of 
ministers,  deacons,  and  other  honorary  members 
of  the  church  —  orthodox,  more  orthodox,  most 
orthodox  —  liberal,  more  liberal,  most  liberal  — 
from  Dr.  Storrs,  of  Braintree,  to  Rev.  Theodore 
Parker,  —  between  whom  may  be  realized  the 
whole  distance  signified  by  the  two  superlatives 
just  used,  —  have  come  up  to  their  anticipated 
repasts,  and  will  enjoy  more  than  one  good 
intellectual  and  moral  meal  before  the  week  has 
gone.  Old  Park-street,  and  Berry-street,  and 
the  new  and  elegant  Winter-street  churches,  are 
open  almost  every  day  or  evening ;  and  Brom- 


ANNIVERSARY    WEEK   IN    BOSTON.  87 

field-street  church,  and  Washingtonian  Hall,  and 
the  famed  Marlboro'  Chapel.  Nor  does  the 
Church  or  State  have  all  this  glory  on  their 
behalf.  Gome-outers,  Reformers,  Disunionists, 
and  other  Radical  "break-downs,"  are  here  ; 
men  and  women,  the  white  race,  the  black  race, 
and  some  of  the  noblest  pleaders  for  both  races, 
or  rather  the  one  race,  that  the  world  bears  up. 
I  tell  you  there  is  a  heart  here  which  this  old 
world  must  feel,  will  feel,  to  its  very  extremities. 
Father  Taylor,  the  seaman's  minister,  says  : 
"  There  is  but  one  Boston,  and  that  is  in  the 
centre  of  God's  universe."  If  you  want  to  have 
this  conviction  really  move  you,  keep  yourself 
among  the  goers  to  these  benevolent  and  reform 
associations  during  Anniversary  Week. 

Shall  we  take  a  few  rapid  glances  into  the 
convocations  ?  Here  is  a  session  of  the  Ameri- 
can Prison  Discipline  Society.  Hon.  Theodore 
Lyman  is  in  the  chair.  The  report  from  the 
secretary,  Mr.  Dwight,  is  a  cheering  one.  He 
has  been  on  a  European  tour,  and  has  returned 
with  funds  of  information  on  this  important 
topic.  He  tells  us  that  some  of  the  best  minds 
in  Europe  are  engaged  in  the  great  work  of 
reforming  the  vicious,  and  of  saving  those  ex- 
posed to  vicious  influences.  Charles  Sumner 
reads  a  report,  too,  —  a  kind  of  review  of  former 


88  OUR    DAT. 

proceedings,  which  elicits  strong  discussion.  Mr. 
Sumner  is  a  grand  specimen  of  our  best  public 
speakers.  Tall,  finely  formed,  with  his  dark 
hair,  strong  and  benevolent  eye,  rich  voice,  and 
appropriate  gesture,  he  always  makes  an  impres- 
sion when  he  has  prepared  himself  for  an  effort. 
His  Fourth  of  July  oration,  on  the  "  True 
Grandeur  of  Nations,"  and  one  or  two  public 
addresses  at  Cambridge,  have  made  for  him  a 
renown  that  will  last  long  years  yet.  But  — 
dinner-time  has  come  —  imperative  caller  !  and 
this  meeting  must  adjourn. 

Enter  softly  that  door  of  Winter-street  church ; 
for  don  't  you  hear  that  voice,  pure  and  musical 
as  the  running  water  of  some  fresh,  strong 
stream,  down  the  green  hill-side,  in  spring  ?  Pro- 
fessor Greenleaf,  of  Cambridge,  is  speaking. 
This  is  the  Bible  Society,  and  he  is  vindicating 
its  claims.  No  man  will  do  the  subject  better 
justice.  I  wish  I  could  report  his  speech ;  so 
manful,  so  vigorous,  so  free  from  cant,  so  irre- 
sistibly true.  You  would  not  feel  like  keeping 
silence  if  the  Bible  was  reproached  in  your 
hearing,  after  getting  filled  with  the  inspiration 
of  such  a  speech.  The  venerable  Dr.  Pierce,  of 
Brookline,  presides  at  this  meeting.  An  excel- 
lent report  has  been  read  by  Dr.  Parkman.  It 
is  the  thirty-eighth  anniversary  of  the  society. 


ANNIVERSARY    WEEK   IN   BOSTON.  89 

Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Collegiate  and 
Theological  Education  at  the  West —  a  nume- 
rously attended  meeting  in  Tremont  Temple. 
This  is  an  efficient  association.  Eleven  thousand 
dollars  have  been  contributed  by  the  New  Eng- 
land churches  alone,  during  the  past  year,  to 
promote  its  objects.  Rev.  G.  "W.  Blagden,  Dr. 
Baird,  J.  M.  Worcester,  and  Henry  W.  Beecher, 
address  the  meeting.  The  last  named  is  from 
Indianapolis.  He  is  a  son  of  the  old  Doctor, 
now  of  Cincinnati ;  and  is  a  giant  man  for  one 
of  his  inches  and  years,  when  he  undertakes  to 
wield  pen  or  tongue  in  earnest.  He  has  just 
been  giving  them  some  excellent  specimens  of 
western  oratory,  at  the  anniversaries  in  New 
York  city.  He  has  in  him  all  the  boundlessness 
of  genius  we  might  expect  of  a  genuine  Beecher 
growth,  in  the  amazing  river,  lake,  and  prairie 
land. 

In  the  chamber  of  the  great  Railroad  depot,  in 
Haymarket  Square,  —  a  hall  that  more  nearly 
approaches  immensity  than  any  other  in  New 
England,  —  you  may  see  assembled,  at  well- 
furnished  tables,  twelve  hundred  Unitarians  and 
their  friends  of  the  Old  Bay  and  other  states. 
It  is  a  yearly  social  gathering  j  a  festival  given 
by  the  laity  to  the  ministers.  And  a  a  feast  of 
reason "  indeed  is  it.  George  S.  Hillard,  Esq. 
6 


90  OUR   DAT. 

is  the  presiding  officer.  He  opens  the  intellec- 
tual entertainment  in  an  address  full  of  words 
most  fitly  chosen,  every  one  of  them  in  the  right 
place.  Other  appropriate  speeches  follow.  Ire- 
land and  Canada  are  here  represented  in  Uni- 
tarian clergymen.  Father  Taylor  is  here.  It 
has  just  been  said  that  he  is  to  go  to  Ireland  in 
the  relief  ship,  Macedonian,  from  New  York. 
The  chairman,  to  call  him  up,  asks  if  the  report 
is  true.  The  old  salt  starts  on  his  feet,  and 
pours  out  a  speech  with  his  whole  heart  hi  it :  — 

"  The  chairman  has  asked  me  a  question :  I 
wish  he  would  answer  his  own.  It  is  not  my 
prerogative ;  it  is  not  hi  my  place ;  it  is  not  in 
my  power.  I  am  not  my  own.  I  have  lost  my 
independence.  I  have  been  married  to  Boston 
'most  twenty  years.  Their  will  is  my  pleasure 
at  all  times.  Wherever  an  assembly  like  this 
calls  me  to  go,  I  go,  if  it  is  to  attack  his  majesty 
at  home.  I  fear  no  harm  nor  danger,  where  such 
life  and  such  grace  shall  give  direction. 

"  But,  sir,  really  this  does  come  home  worse 
than  a  shell  or  a  torpedo.  This  is  new  news  to 
me,  that  I  am  to  be  banished.  I  have  served 
you  the  best  that  I  might.  I  have  been  with 
you  'most  forty  years.  I  came  to  you  a  home- 
less, friendless  boy,  and  never  knew,  nor  have 
not  learned  to  this  day,  whether  I  ever  had  a 


ANNIVERSARY   WEEK  IN   BOSTON.  91 

home.  I  found  one  here.  I  have  sailed  for 
you.  I  have  fought  for  you  in  the  war.  I  have 
served  you  in  peace.  I  have  grown  old.  I  have 
become  like  a  clock  on  the  wall,  which  has  struck 
so  long  it  starts  no  one ;  and  they  have  got  a 
convenient  way  to  get  another  —  to  banish  me  to 
Ireland. 

"  Well,  sir,  be  it  so.  If  I  am  to  go  there  for 
a  grave,  I  carry  a  better  load  than  most  that  go  ; 
for  it  is  not  all  that  carry  four  thousand  barrels 
of  provisions.  "Why  I  should  go,  I  know  not. 
Why  I  should  not  go,  it  is  not  my  business  to 
inquire.  I  am  willing  to  do  any  thing  to  aid 
humanity — to  aid  those  hi  whose  service  I  am  a 
voluntary,  willing,  and  well-rewarded  servant. 
Your  service  and  your  toil  are  my  rest  and  my 
recreation." 

Here  are  some  prosy  speeches,  as  well  as 
these  fresh  and  stirring  ones.  After  a  meeting 
of  four  hours,  the  noble  hall  is  filled  with  the 
vocal  strains  of  the  closing  doxology. 

The  Universal  Brotherhood  is  in  session  at 
the  Bromfield-street  church.  This  association  is 
the  plan  of  Elihu  Burritt.  He  has  drawn  up  a 
universal  Peace  Pledge ;  and  they  have  been 
discussing  its  merits  and  bearings  here.  Amasa 
Walker  is  hi  the  chair ;  a  large  audience  before 
him,  representing  all  sentiments  from  out-and-out 


92  OUR   DAY. 

non-resistance,  to  expedient,  defensive,  or  aggres- 
sive war ;  but  few  of  the  latter,  however.  Father 
Taylor  is  here,  too ;  but  not  in  that  happy  posi- 
tion where  we  saw  him  yesterday,  at  the  Unita- 
rian festival.  He  has  just  been  speaking  in  his 
usual  warm  and  vehement  manner,  and  has  said 
something  in  vindication  of  the  sword  ;  when  lo ! 
he  is  met  by  one  of  the  most  dreadful  moral 
hornets  America  has  ever  yet  known,  —  Stephen 
S.  Foster.  Straight,  thin-faced,  spectacled,  and 
solemn,  stands  this  man  of  umjRried  nerve  and 
tongue.  Hot,  impudent,  rough-and-tumble  as  he 
sometimes  seems,  apparently  reckless  of  the  feel- 
ings of  opponents,  he  is  now  collected,  careful, 
courteous ;  but  in  logic  keen  as  a  razor,  and  in 
clearness  of  exposition,  and  strength  of  appeal, 
irresistible.  Father  Taylor  attempts  to  correct 
him,  but  in  vain.  Has  he  mistaken  Father 
Taylor's  words  ?  He  appeals  to  the  audience, 
and  they  answer,  "  No ! "  and  out  he  pours  his 
fire  again ;  and  on  and  on  he  streams,  till  the 
clock  stops  him,  as  he  has  agreed  to  hear  an 
answer.  The  old  seaman's  minister  arises,  and 
attempts  to  play  back ;  but  his  odd  comparisons 
and  witticisms,  well  enough  of  themselves,  are 
out  of  the  range  of  Stephen's  argument.  They 
cannot  meet  it.  Foster  very  wisely  leaves  the 
matter  to  the  judgment  of  the  audience.  This 


ANNIVERSARY    WEEK   IN   BOSTON.  93 

is  a  spirited  meeting.  Good  will  come  of  it 
Between  thirty  and  forty  thousand  names  have 
been  added,  within  six  or  eight  months,  to  this 
brotherhood  pledge,  on  each  side  of  the  At- 
lantic. 

Now  we  are  in  Bromfield-street,  let  us  look  in 
at  Washingtonian  Hall ;  a  beautiful,  new,  and  spa- 
cious meeting-room,  for  those  noble  reformers, 
the  Washingtonians.  Here  is  a  goodly  assem- 
blage, because  made  up  of  many  self-sacrificing 
and  true  souls.  There  is  the  mild  face  of  a 
good  philanthropist,  —  Dr.  Walter  Charming. 
Hark !  he  is  "  not  afraid  to  speak  evil  of  dig- 
nities." "  Our  rich  men,  and  men  in  Congress, 
sustain  drunkenness."  He  compliments  the  Bos- 
ton mayor  and  aldermen  for  the  stand  they 
have  just  taken  against  licensing  rum-sellers. 
"  Father  Thompson "  is  here,  one  of  the  small- 
est and  largest  of  the  genuine  human  kind  ;  in 
bodily  stature  commanding,  if  placed  on  a  high 
rostrum  in  the  midst  of  a  multitude ;  in  heart 
and  soul,  sure  of  a  "  tall  "  welcome  in  Washing- 
tonian Hall.  He  is  one  of  the  presiding  geniuses 
here ;  and  one  of  the  noblest,  most  indefatigable 
laborers  in  the  temperance  cause,  that  treads 
New  England  ground.  The  noted  John  Haw- 
kins is  present ;  and  the  musical  Potter,  and 
Coles,  of  the  "  New  England  Washingtonian." 
Coles  cannot  make  a  speech,  without  some  pun 


94  OTTK   DAT. 

or  witticism.  "  Brother  Thompson  has  called  me 
out,  and  I  suppose  I  must  say  something.  He 
seems  to  rule  here,  to-day ;  and  I  suppose  we 
must  obey  him.  We  are,  therefore,  to-day,  all 
Thompsonians"  He  does  not  spare  the  wine- 
drinking  clergymen  of  the  city,  in  his  spicy 
address.  Blessings  on  this  band  of  reformers ! 
May  Heaven  smile  as  propitiously  on  them  in  the 
future,  as  it  has  in  the  past. 

The  meeting  of  the  Seaman's  Friend  Society 
is  almost  always  one  of  interest.  It  is  held  on 
Wednesday  of  this  week,  in  Tremont  Temple. 
There  are  some  hearts  here,  ardently  devoted  to 
the  cause  of  the  ocean-children,  whom  the  world 
often  forgets,  or  treats  so  roughly.  Jack  Tar  is 
remembered  in  prayers  and  speeches  here,  how- 
ever deserted  and  lonely  at  times  he  may  feel. 
Excellent  addresses  are  made :  one,  in  parti- 
cular, by  Rev.  Mr.  Adams,  Seaman's  Chaplain 
at  Havre  ;  and  another  by  Lieutenant  Foote,  of 
the  United  States'  Navy.  Among  other  good 
suggestions,  he  urged  upon  the  society  and  aud- 
ience the  duty  of  using  all  their  influence  to 
abolish  the  whisky  portion  of  the  rations  in  the 
navy.  Thank  him  for  that.  Our  higher  officers, 
in  both  army  and  navy,  should  talk  more  after 
this  manner. 

A  breakfast  at  Faneuil  Hall  —  a  grand  rally 
of  the  "  Liberty  Party  "  there.  Edmund  Quincy 


ANNIVERSARY   WEEK  Df   BOSTON.  95 

has  written  in  the  Anti-slavery  Almanac,  for 
1847,  that  the  "  Liberty  Party  "  is  dead,  without 
hope  of  rising  ;  so  down,  that 

"  All  the  king's  hones,  and  all  the  king's  men, 
Can  't  set  Humpty  Dnmpty  up  again  !  " 

But  here  are  six  hundred  of  this  party  most 
earnestly  at  work.  This  is  death  only  to 
the  eatables  and  drinkables  of  the  occasion. 
Dead  men  do  not  eat  so  —  do  not  talk  so. 
Why,  here  is  spirit  enough  to  make  and  keep 
life  in  any  party,  great  or  small.  Rev.  Mr. 
Lovejoy,  a  brother  of  the  Alton  martyr,  presides 
at  this  festival.  Joshua  Leavitt,  the  editor  of 
the  Emancipator,  makes  a  pertinent  speech.  He 
is  one  of  the  most  vigorous  of  political  writers, 
especially  when  the  "peculiar  institution"  of 
the  South  is  to  be  discussed.  Mr.  Calhoun  has 
acknowledged  as  much  as  this,  if  not  more,  con- 
cerning him.  Hayden,  Henson,  and  Gould,  all 
slaves,  make  thrilling  appeals.  Dr.  Snodgrass, 
a  young  anti-slavery  editor  from  Baltimore,  en- 
ters into  the  work  with  a  commendable  zeal. 
The  way  in  which  he  administers  flagellation  to 
slave-owning  clergymen  is  worthy  of  note.  This 
is  the  resolution  to  which  the  Doctor  speaks, 
and  which  is  heartily  adopted : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  plea  so  often  made  by  cler- 


96  OUR   DAT. 

gymen  of  the  North,  in  behalf  of  their  slave- 
holding  brethren  of  the  South,  —  that  they  are 
compelled  by  law  to  continue  their  present  rela- 
tions, —  is  an  utter  fallacy ;  and  that  it  should 
be  so  regarded  everywhere,  by  the  real  friends 
of  truth  and  freedom." 

Now  for  Marlboro'  Chapel,  and  the  meeting  of 
the  New  England  Anti-slavery  Society.  Here 
is  where  Mr.  Emerson  says  you  may  find  "  elo- 
quence dog  cheap."  Verily  so.  Do  n't  talk  of 
parliaments  or  congresses,  if  you  can  hear  the 
speakers  of  this  convention  in  full  blast.  I 
would  set  them  up,  on  any  great  moral  question, 
against  the  same  number  you  might  select  from 
all  the  oratorical  multitudes  now  speaking  our 
mother-tongue.  Here  you  have  ultraism,  not 
only  to  the  backbone,  but  the  very  backbone 
itself.  Frederick  Douglass  is  chosen  president ; 
but  he  is  not  able,  from  bodily  illness,  to  take 
the  chair.  He  will  not  speak  at  this  meeting ; 
and  so,  many  will  be  disappointed  ;  for,  since  his 
visit  to  Europe,  he  has  become  quite  a  lion,  —  a 
genuine  one,  too.  There  are  but  few  white 
men,  and,  I  presume,  not  another  black  man  in 
the  world,  capable  of  making  a  stronger  or  more 
stirring  speech  on  the  abomination  of  slavery, 
than  this  same  Frederick.  If  you  want  to  put 
a  man  on  the  sure  road  to  conversion  to  anti- 


ANNIVERSARY   WEEK   IN    BOSTON.  97 

slavery  doctrines,  give  him  the  life  of  this  now 
redeemed  slave,  written  by  himself,  and  get  him 
to  read  it  attentively.  If  the  fire  does  n't  mount 
his  cheeks,  and  the  -water  look  out  of  his  eyes, 
before  he  finishes  the  first  reading,  then  he 
knows  no  more  of  freedom's  spirit  than  an  infant 
Hottentot.  Douglass  is  an  eloquent  speaker ; 
and  he  has  been  his  own  educator,  from  the  time 
he  first  found  out  his  letters,  on  pieces  of  paper 
picked  up  hi  the  streets  of  his  Southern  homes. 
His  pronunciation  is  said  to  have  improved, 
during  his  visit  to  Great  Britain.  One  who  has 
just  heard  him  at  the  New  York  anniversaries, 
writes :  "  "We  question  whether  Mr.  Macready 
himself,  that  martinet  in  the  matter  of  English, 
could  find  fault  with  half-a-dozen  words  used  by 
this  escaped  slave,  who,  as  we  are  assured, 
never  went  to  school  a  day  in  his  life,  but  has 
made  himself  what  he  is  by  native  talent  and 
industry." 

Remond,  and  other  able  orators  "in  black," 
are  here  ;  full  charged  and  ready  with  the  truth, 
to  do  themselves  and  the  cause  of  freedom  jus- 
tice. I  have  named  the  colored  brethren  first 
But  they  do  not  completely  represent  this  assem- 
bly. We  have  here  some  white  thundering  he- 
roes, who  seldom  talk  long  to  sleepy  listeners ; 
and  whose  names  are  pretty  well  known  in  every 


98  OUR   DAY. 

nook  and  corner  of  our  land.  This  is  a  "  Gar- 
risonian  "  meeting ;  and  there  is  the  agitator  for 
whom  it  is  thus  named  —  a  sober-looking  Massa- 
chusetts man,  of  the  sternest  Puritan  firmness, 
and  with  a  martyr's  spirit  of  self-sacrifice ;  his 
benevolence  of  soul  written  in  his  face,  and 
shining  from  that  bald  head,  for  which  some 
thousands  of  dollars  were  once  offered  by  certain 
aggrieved  Southern  bloods,  and  upon  which  the 
maledictions  of  more  than  as  many  thousands  of 
slaveholders  have  been  falling  very  harmless, 
during  these  dozen  or  fifteen  last  years.  He  is 
an  orator  of  the  old  Roman  stamp.  And  so  is 
Wendell  Philips,  who  sits  near  him  —  no  —  who 
has  just  risen  to  speak.  The  audience  have 
been  somewhat  uneasy,  but  are  still  now.  The 
silver  trumpeter  will  give  them  a  blast  from  his 
rich-toned  instrument.  He  will  please,  excite, 
affront,  and  allay  them.  The  clergy  come  in  for 
a  share  of  his  eloquent  maledictions ;  that  is, 
certain  of  them  who  gave  encouragement  to 
slavery,  and  who  once  denounced  the  abolition- 
ists as  madmen,  for  putting  the  Bible  above  the 
statute-book,  and  St.  Calhoun,  and  the  Gospel  of 
South  Carolina  according  to  George  McDuffie ! 
So  far,  all  is  well.  But  now  his  words  of  light 
and  flame  are  hurled  at  President  Polk  and 
Daniel  Webster.  "  Scoundrels  and  cowards  are 


ANNIVERSARY   WEEK  IN   BOSTON.  99 

they ! "  Out  come  the  hisses  from  the  crowd 
around.  These  only  serve  to  render  his  castiga- 
tions  of  the  "  great  expounder "  still  more  severe. 
"  In  his  recent  visit  to  Charleston,  South  Caro- 
lina," says  Mr.  P.,  "  Mr.  "Webster  has  disgraced 
Massachusetts  !  He  has  not  represented  her 
feelings  at  the  treatment  of  Samuel  Hoar !  He 
should  not  have  gone  there,  if  he  did  not  feel 
equal  to  the  crisis  of  speaking  for  Massachusetts, 
in  reference  to  the  treatment  of  that  individual. 
His  coward  lips  should  not  have  taken  the  name 
of  the  honored  state,  which  he  had  not  the 
courage  to  represent  faithfully.  He  has  acted 
the  part  of  the  fawning  sycophant,  and  not  that 
of  a  true  representative  of  Massachusetts  senti- 
ment!" If  the  expounder  himself  were  here 
now,  he  might  look  some  premonitory  lightning 
out  of  those  "  cavernous  eyes."  The  storm  of 
indignation  seems  subsiding ;  and  the  orator 
concludes  in  strains  more  melodious  and  sooth- 
ing. 

But,  heigh  ho!  Here  comes  the  invincible 
Stephen  S.  Foster.  We  have  already  spoken  of 
his  encounter  with  Father  Taylor.  He  is  less 
m*aly-mouthed  now.  So  we  may  judge  from 
his  opening  volley  :  "  If  we  had  men,  instead  of 
monkeys,  in  Massachusetts,  she  would  not  for  a 
moment  longer  preserve  even  the  form  of  union 


100  OUK    DAT. 

with  such  a  state  as  South  Carolina ! "  Hissing 
and  stamping  ensue.  But  the  imperturbable 
green  spectacles  look  it  down,  and  the  strong 
voice  rings  out  with  still  more  force  and  effect. 
"  Shame  on  Massachusetts  !  Shame  on  Massa- 
chusetts !  the  meanest  state  that  lives  !  "  The 
response  is  a  general  "  muss  "  in  the  outer  edges 
of  the  congregation.  A  few  benches  are  broken, 
and  the  police  have  some  brief  sayings  and 
doings  with  certain  outraged  hearers  of  this 
treasonable  scandal.  But  Stephen  speaks  till  he 
has  a  mind  to  conclude,  and  then  sits  as  quietly 
down  as  if  nothing  had  happened.  He  has 
only  been  swimming  in  his  element  —  the  odd 
fish. 

A  new  speaker  is  here,  a  lady-stranger,  — 
Mrs.  Lucretia  Motte,  of  Philadelphia,  —  a  kind 
of  moderate  Daniel  Webster,  in  Quaker  cap  and 
gown.  She  is  about  Mr.  "VV.'s  age  ;  and  speaks 
as  clearly  and  logically  before  this  audience,  as 
the  Massachusetts  senator  would  in  his  place  in 
congress.  Dr.  Combe  thinks  she  has  as  good  a 
woman's  head  as  any  he  found  in  America. 
Mrs.  M.  advocates  resolutions  offered  by  a  Rev. 
Mr.  Grew,  against  using  the  products  of  slave 
labor.  Wendell  Philips,  in  one  of  his  smoothest, 
strongest,  and  happiest  strains,  annihilates  the 
resolutions,  or  the  doctrine  on  which  they  are 


ANNIVERSARY   WEEK   IN   BOSTON.         101 

founded.  But  where  shall  we  end?  —  for  all 
this  is  but  a  sprinkling  of  the  entertainment. 
Here  are  other  lady  speakers,  able  and  eloquent. 
Here  are  the  now-distinguished  Rev.  Theodore 
Parker ;  Rev.  Mr.  Stetson,  of  Medford ;  Rev.  Mr. 
Himes,  the  Second  Advent  Man ;  Rev.  Adin 
Ballou,  the  non-resistant  advocate ;  Rev.  William 
H.  Channing;  and  Parker  Pillsbury,  with  his 
battle-axe  always  in  hand,  ready  to  cleave  down 
all  reverends  who  are  not  born  of  the  spirit  of 
American  anti-slavery.  He  advocates  a  reso- 
lution, expressing  exultation  in  view  of  the 
declining  state  of  the  hitherto  popular  American 
religion,  and  the  reviving  of  a  purer,  through 
the  reformatory  movements  of  the  age.  Free 
speeches  are  here  the  order  of  day  and  even- 
ing ;  rowdy  interruptions,  and  police  inter- 
ferences, the  disorder.  Yet  the  meeting  will 
have  its  good  effect.  Amid  all  its  strange 
voices,  some  of  the  choicest  and  most  enduring 
reformatory  truth  has  been  spoken.  Certain 
secular  papers  denounce  the  meetings ;  but  this 
only  excites  the  more  interest.  Religionists  and 
politicians  fuss  and  fume,  because  of  the  hard 
talk  of  these  reformers  against  church  and  state. 
But  the  church  need  not  fear,  if  God  and  truth 
are  with  her.  She  had  better  remember  old 


102  OUR   DAY. 

Gamaliel's  words  to  the  persecutors  of  the  apos- 
tles. As  for  the  state,  let  most  of  our  mere 
praters  for  constitutional  liberty  find  out  what 
the  state  is.  Many  are  the  fears  expressed,  that 
our  glorious  union  is  so  very  glass-housey  as  to 
be  broken  into  by  such  insults  as  these  Gome- 
outers  fling  at  it.  And  by  whom  are  such  fears 
expressed  ?  Why  by  some,  certainly,  who  can- 
not repeat  one  line  of  our  Constitution ;  who 
never  read  it,  nor  heard  it  read,  in  their  lives ! 
What  is  right  in  the  Constitution  will  stand 
against  all  the  radicalism  of  the  ages ;  what  is 
wrong  will  perish,  or  there  is  no  God's  truth  in 
the  universe. 

One  other  allusion,  and  we  leave  our  fruitful 
theme.  There  is,  in  "Washingtonian  Hall,  ano- 
ther breakfast  entertainment.  The  Universalist 
Reform  Association  hold  a  morning  festival 
there.  Yesterday  they  had  their  meeting,  where 
some  of  our  chief  reform  topics  were  discussed, 
in  the  School-street  church  ;  to-day  they  conclude 
at  the  tables.  It  is  their  first  meeting  of  this 
kind ;  and  they  will  never  have  a  much  hap- 
pier one.  The  young  historian  of  Charlestown, 
Richard  Frothingham,  jr.,  is  in  the  president's 
chair.  His  opening  address  is  admirable.  He 
is  followed  by  some  of  the  strong  men  of  the 


ANNIVERSARY   WEEK   IN    BOSTON.         103 

denomination,  chiefly  clergymen  —  Miner,  Fay, 
Bacon,  Streeter,  and  Ballou.  Chapin,  too,  is 
here ;  ready,  full,  and  splendid  as  ever  with 
his  wonderful  tongue.  Although  pretending  to 
have  in  hand  only  "  skirts  and  fragments  of 
ideas,"  he  magically  forms  them  into  complete- 
ness, and  endues  them  with  power.  He  speaks 
of  Christianity  and  Reform : 

u  Christianity  has  not  changed,  or  added  any 
thing  to  itself.  But  we  find  in  it  latent  truths. 
"We  discern  new  meaning  in  old  truths.  He 
said  that  his  eye  had  rested  that  very  morning 
upon  the  passage  which  Jesus  read  in  the  syna- 
gogue of  Nazareth,  — '  The  spirit  of  the  Lord  is 
upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach 
the  gospel  to  the  poor ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal 
the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliverance  to  the 
captives,  and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to 
set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised,  to  preach 
the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord.'  What  a 
profound  meaning  does  this  passage  receive  now, 
in  the  light  of  these  stirring  reforms!  How 
does  its  truth  open  before  us,  vast  and  deep  as 
the  clear,  blue  heaven  over  our  heads !  Christi- 
anity authorizes  and  animates  these  social  move- 
ments. Its  social  spirit,  and  its  labors  of  love, 
make  us  live  more  in  a  year,  than  elsewhere  in 
a  lifetime. 


104  OUR   DAT. 

1  Not  in  vain  the  distance  beacons  ;  forward,  forward,  let  us  range ; 
Let  the  people  spin  for  ever  down  the  ringing  grooves  of  change. 
Through  the  shadow  of  the  world  we  sweep  into  the  younger  day ; 
Better  fifty  years  of  Europe  than  a  cycle  of  Cathay.' 

He  alluded  to  the  early  fathers  of  our  faith  who 
were  present.  How  must  their  hearts  thrill,  as 
they  see  the  operation  of  those  principles  which 
they  enunciated  so  long  ago.  They  came  forth, 
literally,  preaching  in  the  wilderness  ;  and  now 
the  sentiments  they  advanced  are  moving  the 
heart  of  society,  animating  its  noblest  reforms, 
breathing  in  its  best  spirit,  adopted  in  its  litera- 
ture and  philosophy.  They  began  their  labor  in 
the  early  morning,  when  the  light  of  the  truth 
they  announced  just  tinged  the  mountain  tops ; 
and  now,  as  they  are  about  vanishing  from  our 
horizon,  its  full  effulgence  shines  upon  their  grey 
hairs,  and  makes  them  a  crown  of  glory.  The 
young  must  take  their  places." 

The  venerable  Ballou  makes  the  concluding 
speech.  Quietly,  modestly,  fervently,  drop  his 
patriarchal  words.  From  that  ancient  saying  of 
Christ,  —  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto 
leaven,  which  a  woman  took  and  hid  in  three 
measures  of  meal,  till  the  whole  was  leavened," 
—  he  brings  out  a  new  and  comprehensive  word, 
inspired  by  the  scenes  of  yesterday  and  to-day. 
Eloquently  does  he  urge  home  the  admonition  to 


ANNIVERSARY   WEEK   IN    BOSTON.         105 

his  denominational  children  around  him,  that 
they  seek  to  accomplish  all  their  reformatory 
work  hi  the  spirit  of  Christian  love.  He  con- 
cludes ;  and,  at  the  word  of  the  president,  "  The 
Brave  Old  Oak "  is  sung,  and  responded  to  by 
the  applause  of  the  audience. 

Reader,  you  have  here  only  the  meagre  out- 
line of  description.  Anniversary  Week  in  Bos- 
ton is  one  of  the  God-sends  to  this  erring  world. 
With  all  its  contrariety  of  opinions,  its  conser- 
vatism and  ultraism,  orthodoxy  and  heresy,  church 
and  anti-church,  constitution  and  anti-constitution 
doctrines,  it  has  more  good  in  it  than  a  presiden- 
tial election,  or  a  dozen  battles  of  Monterey  or 
Buena  Vista.  There  is  moral  wisdom  enough 
then  manifested  in  this  New  England  metropolis, 
to  make  our  nation  what  its  mere  politicians 
never  will  make  it,  unless  they  are  nearer  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  than  they  now  are  ;  glorious, 
not  in  extension  of  territory,  nor  in  wealth,  nor 
in  arms,  but  in  that  preeminent  Democracy 
which  our  patriots  of  the  past  and  present  have 
sought,  but  not  yet  found,  —  Christian  truth  and 
righteousness  reigning  in  the  people. 


106 


TO  FREDERICK  DOUGLASS.* 


BY  J.  G    ADAMS. 

God  speed  thee !  Nature's  nobleman,  along  thy  brightening  way, 
From  Slavery's  darkness,  deep  and  drear,  to  Freedom's  opening  day  ; 
From  that  oppression  chain,  which  held  thy  manly  spirit  low, 
To  this  high  ground,  where  Liberty  meets  arm  to  arm  her  foe  ! 

God  speed  thee  !  for  his  wisdom  sure  thy  glorious  course  began  ; 
Sent  thee  into  our  world  of  wrong,  a  soldier  in  the  van 
Of  that  increasing  army,  clad  in  panoply  of  light, 
Who  come  life-long  to  battle  for  Inalienable  Right ! 

I  know  that  God  will  speed  thee,  friend ;  I  know  his  promise  stands 
To  guard  the  right,  and  thwart  the  work  of  foul  oppression's  hands  ; 
I  know  thy  trumpet- words  will  speak  through  hoary  Wrong's  domain, 
And  aid  in  that  sure  power  that  breaks  the  last  lone  bondman's  chain. 

And  yet  I  grieve,  that  here,  where  thou  shouldst  be  most  aided,  — 

blest,— 

Thy  feet  have  not  their  standing  sure,  nor  thy  true  heart  a  rest ; 
That  there  are  those  my  countrymen,  descendants  of  the  brave, 
Who  lightly  speak  thy  name  with  that  of  "  fugitive  "  and  "  slave  :  " 

*  At  the  time  this  little  tribute  was  penned,  Mr.  Douglass  was  a 
slave,  owned  by  an  American  white  man  in  Maryland.  His  freedom 
has  since  been  "  legally  "  procured  by  his  friends  in  England. 


TO   FREDERICK   DOUGLASS.  107 

Who  deem  thy  strife  presumptive,  and  in  words  of  bitter  sneer, 
Would  speak  of  thee  as  Slavery's  sons  might  well  rejoice  to  hear  ; 
When  thy  coming  should  awaken  and  arouse  their  voices  all, 
As  when  from  Freedom's  heights  her  hosts  unto  each  other  call! 

But  I  have  hope  in  Him  to  whom  all  erring  souls  belong, 
Who  gives  the  race  not  to  the  swift,  nor  battle  to  the  strong ; 
And  who,  by  means  howe'er  despised,  yet  just  hi  his  own  sight, 
Will  turn  by  his  unerring  will  the  hearts  of  men  aright. 

Disgraced  and  smitten  though  we  are  by  Slavery's  iron  rod, 
The  truth  we  will  have  spoken  here  —  the  living  truth  of  God ! 
They  dare  not  stifle  her  free  words,  who  glory  in  their  shame, 
And  gladly  would  perpetuate  Oppression's  work  and  name. 

So  be  thou  strong  of  heart,  and  still  speak  out  thy  words  of  Right, 
For  not  thus  always  shall  man  grope  in  Slavery's  blasting  night: 
The  morning  dawns !  its  coming  now  is  hailed  by  song  and  prayer ; 
And  sick  and  faint  humanity  inhales  its  healthful  air ! 

The  mountain-tops  are  gilded  with  the  rays  of  Freedom's  sun ; 
Her  advocates  increasing  hi  their  joy  together  run  ; 
The  voice  is  waxing  louder,  and  the  force  still  firmer  bands  ; 
A  deeper  tread  of  hosts  is  there  —  a  stronger  grasp  of  hands ! 

And  soon  shall  come  the  final  strife — who  doubts  the  issue  then  ? 
Oppression's  power  once  fairly  met  with  fearless  living  MEN  ! 
God  speed  that  glorious  day !  and  mayst  thou,  Douglass,  live  to  see 
Its  fulness  shining  on  thee  —  this  Freedom's  jubilee  ! 


108 


THE  CRIMINAL. 

BY  REV.  CHARLES  SPEAR. 

"  The  criminal  must  be  condemned  to  lose  his  freedom,  and  to  be 
separated  from  society,  in  order  to  put  it  out  of  his  power  to  injure  ; 
and  be  restored,  if  possible,  by  means  of  a  rational  punishment,  to 
reflection  and  to  better  purposes.  But  society  must,  with  tender 
sympathy  and  maternal  care,  follow  even  its  misled  children."  * 

BEFORE  the  Author  of  Christianity  left  our 
world,  he  enjoined  and  illustrated  every  human 
duty.  Among  the  duties  which  he  recommended 
by  his  high  example,  was  sympathy  for  the 
criminal.  Looking  over  the  moral  history  of 
the  world,  since  he  closed  his  great  mission,  we 
soon  discover  that  this  class  has  been  sadly 
neglected.  True,  in  different  periods,  the  world 
has  given  birth  to  a  Howard  and  a  Fry ;  but, 
alas !  how  small  the  number !  The  time  has 
now  fully  come,  when  this  duty  should  be  more 
deeply  impressed  upon  the  public  mind.  "  "We 


*  On  Punishments  and  Prisons.    Written  by  his  Majesty  the  King 
of  Sweden  and  Norway.    London :  1844.    pp.  89. 


THE    CRIMINAL.  109 

have,"  says  an  English  writer,  "  workhouses 
for  the  poor,  houses  of  refuge  for  the  destitute, 
hospitals  for  the  sick,  soup-kitchens  for  the  hun- 
gry, clothing  societies  for  the  naked.  We  have 
schools  for  the  ignorant ;  societies  for  distributing 
bibles ;  associations  for  the  sailor,  for  the  soldier, 
for  broken-down  merchants  and  tradesmen.  We 
have  societies  for  the  old,  the  young,  the  middle- 
aged  ;  for  providing  for  foundlings,  and  those 
born  in  lawful  wedlock.  We  have  societies  to 
look  after  the  interests  of  those  who  are  about 
to  enter  this  world ;  and  societies  whose  object 
it  is  to  insure  a  decent  interment  in  going  out 
from  it.  There  are  but  few  forms  of  human 
misery,  —  indeed  scarcely  one,  of  all  the  nume- 
rous '  ills '  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave, 

'  that  flesh  is  heir  to,'  — 

no  single  class  of  miserable  or  unfortunate  hu- 
man beings,  —  that  is  not,  in  some  shape  or 
other,  cared  for  by  some  one  or  other  of  the 
associations  so  prevalent  among  the  Christian 
communities  of  these  modern  times.  How  comes 
it  about,  that,  with  all  this  extraordinary  expen- 
diture of  time  and  money,  it  has  never  yet  come 
into  the  mind  of  what  is  called  the  'religious 
world '  to  make  some  efforts  at  reclaiming  our 
convicted  criminals  ?  " 


110  OUR  DAY. 

Such  are  the  impressive  words  of  a  foreign 
writer,  who,  judging  from  his  language,  must 
have  felt  deeply  the  importance  of  the  subject. 
The  criminal  has  been  too  long  neglected.  "When 
his  sentence  consigns  him  to  the  sufferings  and 
degradation  of  a  prison,  all  interest  dies  away  in 
this  last,  cold  inquiry,  "Is  he  safely  lodged 
within  those  walls  from  which  he  cannot  es- 
cape ?  "  This  question  being  once  answered, 
the  multitude  turn  away ;  satisfied,  if  bolts,  and 
bars,  and  chains,  guard  the  space  between  them 
and  their  brother.  Henceforth  he  is  viewed  as  a 
ruined  man  ;  an  outcast  from  human  society  and 
human  compassion.  Few  inquire  whether  he 
shall  be  restored  to  his  family  and  to  the  world, 
a  penitent  man  ;  or  whether  he  shall  come  forth 
from  his  den,  like  some  malignant  fiend,  to 
ravage  and  destroy.  Much  of  the  apathy  of 
the  past  has  arisen  from  ignorance.  Since  How- 
ard left  the  world,  few  have  been  found  to 
plunge  into  the  loathsomeness  of  dungeons,  and 
to  make  report  of  the  secret  wickedness  of  pri- 
sons ;  and  the  world  has  been  so  much  absorbed 
in  amassing  wealth,  that  no  time  has  been  found 
to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  criminal. 

A  brighter  period  is  dawning  upon  the  world. 
Prison  Associations  are  being  formed.  The 
press  —  that "  mighty  engine  for  good  or  evil " — 


THE   CRIMINAL.  Ill 

is  now  exerting  an  immense  influence  upon  the 
great  heart  of  the  community.  To  further  this 
end,  we  shall  present  some  reasons  why  there 
should  be  a  warmer,  Christian  sympathy  mani- 
fested for  the  prisoner. 

The  subject  presents  a  variety  of  aspects. 
We  may  contemplate  the  criminal,  1.  On  trial. 
2.  While  suffering  his  sentence.  3.  When  dis- 
charged. In  the  first  two  instances,  he  is  more 
beyond  our  reach  than  in  the  last.  Which  is 
the  most  painful  state,  we  cannot  determine. 
When  the  hour  of  trial  arrives,  the  mind  must 
be  keenly  alive  to  the  result.  Friends  are 
eagerly  sought ;  facts  are  magnified ;  every 
influence  is  sought  to  sway  the  jury  or  the 
judge.  The  whole  life  is  laid  open  to  public 
gaze.  When  the  trial  ends,  and  sentence  is 
passed,  then,  for  a  season,  hope  gives  place  to 
despair.  The  intercourse  of  friends  is  with- 
drawn. The  prisoner  is  conveyed  to  his  cell, 
and  the  door  is  closed.  Now  he  feels  that  he  is 
a  convict.  If  his  cell  has  a  window,  he  looks 
out  upon  the  busy,  free,  and,  to  him,  happy 
world.  He  thinks  of  his  wife  and  children. 
She  is  now  the  wife  of  a  convict.  The  play- 
mates of  his  children  will  say,  "  Your  father  is 
in  the  State  Prison."  He  feels  abandoned  by 
the  world.  Now  is  the  moment  to  speak  to  him 


112  OUR   DAY. 

of  a  Saviour's  love  ;  to  lead  him  to  the  Sinner's 
Friend.  "  Ah !  "  said  a  criminal  to  an  inspector, 
"it  seems  to  me  there  never  was  but  one  judge 
on  earth  who  understood  the  right  treatment  of 
criminals."  The  inspector  looked  at  him  with 
astonishment.  "It  was  the  man  of  Calvary," 
answered  the  prisoner,  as  his  eyes  filled  with 
tears.  The  melting  moral  of  Christ,  "  Go,  and 
sin  no  more,"  had  sunk  deep  into  the  heart  of 
the  poor,  condemned  culprit. 

As  the  term  of  sentence  shortens,  hope  and 
fear  alternately  take  possession  of  the  mind; 
hope,  that  society  may  again  look  kindly ;  fear, 
that  the  slow-moving  finger  of  scorn  will  be 
pointed  at  him,  and  that  he  will  hear  a  voice 
everywhere  saying,  "  He  is  an  old  convict ;  he 
is  a  prison-bird."  How  cruel !  Who  wonders 
that  he  perpetrates  a  fresh  crime,  and  is  recom- 
mitted to  his  narrow  cell?  The  only  wonder 
is,  that  there  are  not  a  thousand  outbreaks  to 
one. 

That  our  sympathy  may  be  aroused  and  quick- 
ened, it  may  be  well  to  state  the  number  annu- 
ally imprisoned  in  the  United  States,  and  the 
number  annually  discharged.  The  whole  num- 
ber now  confined  in  the  various  state  prisons  is 
about  five  thousand ;  about  two  thousand  are 
annually  discharged.  Extending  our  view,  we 


THE   CRIMINAL.  113 

learn  that  there  were  no  less  than  eight  hundred 
discharged  from,  the  House  of  Correction  at 
South  Boston,  in  a  single  year.  About  five  hun- 
dred need  assistance,  or  a  temporary  home,  that 
employment  may  be  procured  for  them ;  and  thus 
be  saved  from  a  relapse  into  crime.  To  meet  this 
want,  the  benevolence  of  our  day  has  suggested 
various  plans.  Among  the  most  successful  is 
that  of  an  INTELLIGENCE  OFFICE  FOB  DIS- 
CHARGED CONVICTS  in  Boston  ;  connecting  with 
it  a  weekly  periodical,  bearing  the  appropriate 
title  of  Prisoner's  Friend,  He  who  shall  labor 
in  this  department  will  be  a  benefactor  to  his 
race.  Of  all  the  great  moral  movements  that 
characterize  our  day,  this  stands  in  the  front 
rank.  What  can  be  more  noble  than  to  furnish 
to  the  degraded  and  the  fallen  new  incentives  to 
truth  and  virtue  ?  "We  believe  some  one  has 
said,  that  he  who  makes  two  blades  of  grass 
grow  where  only  one  grew  before,  has  done 
more  than  all  the  statesmen  and  politicians  that 
ever  existed.  With  how  much  greater  propriety 
might  this  be  said  of  him  who  redeems  a  human 
being,  —  to  borrow  the  language  of  Professor 
UPHAM, —  "by  planting  the  seeds  of  knowledge 
and  virtue,  which  shall  afterwards  spring  up  and 
incorporate  the  strength  of  their  branches,  and 
the  beauty  of  their  flower  and  foliage,  in  the 


114  OUR   DAT. 

mature  life  and  action  of  the  man !  How  much 
greater  is  it  to  subdue  man,  than  the  earth 
on  which  he  treads !  How  noble  the  conquests 
which  are  obtained  over  the  human  soul !  How 
much  superior  to  all  the  victories  of  a  Napoleon 
or  an  Alexander !  What  are  all  the  mighty 
discoveries  of  our  day,  in  the  physical  world, 
compared  to  those  in  the  moral  world !  What 
are  our  railroads  and  our  telegraphs,  —  where 
we  travel  thirty  miles  the  hour  on  the  one,  and 
send  messages  by  the  lightning  on  the  other,  — 
compared  to  the  great  work  of  leading  a  human 
being  back  to  virtue  ?  We  live  in  a  wonderful 
age.  Discoveries  in  heaven  and  earth  throng 
upon  us,  till  we  are  overwhelmed  with  astonish- 
ment. Now  a  new  planet  appears  !  Now  some 
new  development  in  machinery !  Now  some 
hidden  power  in  nature  !  Still  science  stretches 
her  wings.  How  immense  the  physical  uni- 
verse !  How  much  greater  the  moral  universe  ! 
The  mind  can  seem  to  set  bounds  to  the  one. 
Who  can  bound  the  other?  And,  as  ages  roll 
on,  new  discoveries  will  be  made  in  moral 
science,  till  that  great  day  shall  finally  be  ush- 
ered in  when  the  last  soul  shall  be  redeemed, 
and  a  voice  be  heard,  as  in  the  beginning,  '  And 
God  saw  every  thing  that  he  had  made,  and 
behold  it  was  very  good.'  " 


THE    CRIMINAL.  115 

"  The  antiquary,"  says  William  H.  Channing, 
"  expends  a  fortune  to  disinter  from  the  ruins  of 
ages  the  relics  of  art :  some  hand  or  limb  of  a 
statue ;  some  urn  or  vase ;  some  coin  or  medal ; 
and  prizes  it  as  of  inestimable  value.  Unspeak- 
ably higher  is  the  skill  which  can  set  free  from 
the  rubbish  of  evil  habit  and  association  the 
buried,  but  not  lifeless,  energies  of  goodness." 

Let  us  pause  a  moment,  and  contemplate  the 
scene  before  us.  We  have  said  there  are  about 
five  thousand  human  beings  incarcerated  within 
the  walls  of  our  state  prisons.  Much  larger 
numbers  are  in  jails,  and  other  places  of  con- 
finement. Many  of  them  for  the  first  offence ; 
many  without  parents  ;  many  with  families  ; 
many  who  once  occupied  honorable  stations  ; 
many  utterly  ignorant  of  the  very  laws  by  which 
they  were  condemned ;  many  whose  very  orga- 
nization predisposed  them  to  crime;  many  vic- 
tims of  intemperance  ;  many  who  never  enjoyed 
parental  instruction ;  and,  perhaps,  many  who 
never  committed  the  crimes  of  which  they  are 
charged.  In  fine,  who  can  tell  the  various  influ- 
ences that  lead  to  the  commission  of  crime  ? 
Who  can  say  that,  under  similar  circumstances, 
he  would  not  have  been  guilty  of  the  same 
offence  as  his  brother-man  ?  "  Had  I  been 
situated  as  these  men  have  been,"  said  the 


116  OUR   DAT. 

excellent  "Warden  of  our  State  Prison,  "  I,  too, 
might  have  become  equally  guilty."  Perhaps 
poverty  drew  them  into  crime  ;  perhaps  the 
failure  or  oppression  of  some  merchant  or  trades- 
man involved  them.  But  time  would  fail  to 
enumerate  the  various  causes  of  crime.  Does 
not  society  make  its  own  criminals ?  "I  think 
pirates  should  be  executed,"  said  a  sea-captain 
to  the  writer.  "  Who  made  the  pirates  ? "  we 
earnestly  asked.  Society  often  makes  the  crimi- 
nal; then  builds  the  cold,  dreary  cell  for  his 
confinement,  or  the  gibbet  for  his  execution. 
Society  has,  indeed,  a  long  account  to  settle  with 
its  members.  What  a  sad  picture  might  be 
drawn  here !  Oh  that  some  master-spirit  would 
draw  it  to  the  life!  Man,  for  ages,  has  been 
considered  as  a  mere  appendage  to  the  state. 
A  great  truth  is  yet  to  be  taught.  Man  is  not 
made  for  the  state,  but  the  state  for  man.  Man 
is  above  and  before  all  human  institutions.  They 
did  not  make  him;  he  made  them.  How  few 
statesmen  have  dared  to  utter  this  great  fact! 
Of  those  who  have,  how  many  have  fallen  mar- 
tyrs !  And  the  most  melancholy  part  of  their 
history  is,  that  the  faggot  has  often  been  lighted 
by  the  very  class  for  whom  they  labored !  Alas  ! 
the  frailty  of  human  nature  !  How  evanescent 
is  all  human  applause !  To-day,  a  king ;  to- 


THE    CRIMINAL.  117 

morrow,  a  malefactor!  To-day,  the  shouts  of 
the  multitude ;  to-morrow,  the  reproaches  of  the 
world !  The  life  of  every  true  reformer  shows, 
that  no  dependence  can  be  placed  upon  popular 
favor.  It  is  fickle  as  the  wind,  evanescent  as 
the  passing  cloud,  fading  as  the  rose,  and  empty 
as  the  bubbles.  How  close  the  connection  be- 
tween truth  and  the  cross ! 

But  we  are  entering  a  wide  field.  Let  us 
retrace  our  steps.  We  have  spoken  of  the 
causes  of  crime,  and  of  the  number  of  criminals. 
Let  us  now  look  at  the  reasons  why  a  deeper 
interest  should  be  felt  in  their  behalf. 

I.  Few  persons  are  disposed  to  plead  for  the 
prisoner.  "  I  am  aware,"  said  the  chaplain  of  a 
penitentiary,  "  that  every  thing  which  relates  to 
prisons  and  their  guilty  inmates  is,  to  multitudes, 
revolting ;  in  them  such  themes  create  no  inter- 
est, —  they  awaken  no  sympathy.  On  all  this 
moral  desert  they  can  see  no  verdant  spot. 
Other  wastes  may  be  made  to  bud,  and  blossom, 
and  bear  fruit ;  but,  within  the  precincts  of  a 
prison-house,  nothing  is  found  to  attract  the  eye 
of  faith,  to  enkindle  the  dawnings  of  hope,  or 
call  forth  the  aspirations  of  the  spirit."  Those 
who  enter  heartily  into  this  great  work  are  soon 
denominated  "fanatics,*'  "spurious  philanthro- 
pists," "humanity-mongers,"  &c.  But  let  the 


118  OUR   DAY. 

world  deride  and  persecute.  "What  stronger 
evidence  can  be  given  of  the  truthfulness  of  a 
cause?  What  philanthropist,  that  was  true  to 
humanity,  ever  lived  without  persecution  and 
reproach  ?  He  lives  and  has  his  being  amid 
scorn  and  suffering.  His  very  mission  is  to 
stand  amid  the  storm,  and  say  to  the  contending 
waves,  "  Peace !  be  still."  And,  as  he  moves 
on  in  his  sublime  career,  he  will  hear  a  voice 
saying,  "  Be  of  good  cheer ;  I  have  overcome 
the  world."  He  will  be  reproached,  derided, 
perhaps  nailed  to  the  cross.  But  his  Master 
suffered  all  this  before.  "  If  they  call  the 
master  of  the  house  Beelzebub,  how  much  more 
shall  they  call  they  of  his  household  ?  "  He 
must  be  resigned  to  all  this,  and  calmly  meet  his 
fate.  We  admire  the  remark  of  Howard,  when 
about  to  make  what  his  declining  health  seemed 
to  indicate  would  be  his  last  tour  of  benevolence. 
While  his  weeping  friends  were  dissuading  him 
from  his  purpose,  he  meekly  said,  "  It  is  as  near 
to  heaven  from  Cairo  as  from  London." 

II.  The  prisoner  cannot  plead  his  own  cause. 
His  friends,  in  fact,  can  scarcely  find  a  place  to 
speak  for  him.  Let  us  pause  here  a  moment ; 
and  we  shall  see  that  the  philanthropy  which 
embraces  the  criminal,  encounters  obstacles  not 
to  be  met  with  in  any  other  moral  movement. 


THE   CRIMINAL.  119 

i 

To  illustrate.  In  that  great  enterprise  which  so 
distinctly  marks  our  day,  —  the  liberation  of  the 
slave,  —  when  the  friends  gather  together,  the 
victim  himself  is  there.  He  comes  panting, 
fresh  from  the  land  of  darkness  and  oppression. 
He  rehearses  his  thrilling  story.  Who  can  tell 
one  more  cruel  ?  The  heart  is  touched ;  the 
high,  determined  resolve  follows.  Look  at  an- 
other reform,  —  the  temperance  movement,  —  a 
movement  which  has  burst  upon  the  community 
like  the  splendors  of  a  noon-day  sun ;  a  move- 
ment which  has  carried  forward  the  world,  at 
least,  a  whole  century  towards  the  millennial  day. 
In  this  benevolent  work,  a  part  is  taken  by  the 
poor,  forsaken  inebriate.  He  hears  a  friendly, 
cheering  voice,  saying,  "  This  is  the  way ;  walk 
ye  in  it."  For  the  first  time  in  his  wretched 
career,  he  rehearses  his  tale  of  awful  degrada- 
tion and  blighted  hopes.  He  then  refers  to  his 
penitence,  his  pledge,  and  his  high  resolves  for  a 
better  life.  His  story  penetrates  the  very  depths 
of  the  soul.  The  genius  of  philanthropy  takes 
a  higher  flight.  The  story  reaches  heaven. 
The  angels  bend  a  listening  ear ;  they  strike 
afresh  their  golden  harps,  singing,  "  There  is 
joy  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth." 
We  might  speak  of  other  great  moral  move- 
ments, showing  in  what  manner  the  very  reci- 


120  OUR  DAT. 

pients  contribute  to  their  aid.  The  dumb  pleads 
in  mute  signs  ;  the  blind  prepare  a  concert ;  the 
orphan  tells  a  plaintive  tale ;  the  sailor  rehearses 
his  sufferings  ;  the  slave  portrays  his  wrongs ;  the 
inebriate  describes  his  degradation;  and  even 
the  maniac  conducts  the  press.  How  different 
the  situation  of  the  convict !  His  trials  and  his 
temptations  may  be  presented,  but  not  by  him- 
self. He  can  prepare  no  concert ;  he  can  speak 
through  no  press.  He  is  in  his  narrow  cell ;  or, 
if  discharged,  driven  from  door  to  door,  scarcely 
able  to  obtain  food  or  shelter.  Surely,  then,  he 
will  not  be  suffered  to  advocate  his  own  cause. 
Who  will  believe  him,  if  he  should  ?  It  will  be 
said,  "  He  is  an  old  convict ;  that 's  enough." 
True,  here  and  there  a  heart  would  respond  to 
his  story.  For  God,  in  every  age,  has  had  some 
that  would  listen  to  the  calls  of  humanity.  But 
how  small  the  number !  How  many  turn  a  deaf 
ear!  It  will  not  be  always  so.  The  day  will 
come  when  the  prison  itself  will  furnish  mission- 
aries ;  when,  from  the  gloomy  cell,  will  come 
forth  our  Dixes,  our  Frys,  and  our  Howards. 
That  day  is  near  at  hand.  What  a  day  !  How 
many  thrilling  incidents  are  locked  up  in  the 
heart  of  the  prisoner  !  What  a  story  would  he 
rehearse  of  his  poverty,  his  fears,  his  hopes,  and 
his  temptations !  The  great  problem  will  then 


THE    CRIMINAL.  121 

be  solved,  —  Which  is  the  greater  criminal,  soci- 
ety or  the  convict  ?  Society  is  a  great  nursery 
of  crime.  What  a  fearful  account  has  society  to 
settle  with  the  criminal  !  How  many  tempta- 
tions are  thrown  out  before  the  weak  and  unsus- 
pecting !  How  painful  the  contrast  between  the 
social  position  of  the  rich  swindler  and  the  poor 
thief!  Governments  have  not  been  slow  to 
punish  crime,  nor  in  erecting  dungeons  or  gib- 
bets. But  the  prevention  of  crime,  and  the 
reformation  of  the  offender,  have  nowhere  taken 
root  among  the  first  objects.  The  day,  we 
repeat,  is  coming,  when  missionaries  will  come 
forth  from  within  the  very  prisons.  It  will  be  a 
glorious  day.  Many  a  soul,  now  cold  and  indif- 
ferent, will  then  be  reached.  That  day  is  dawn- 
ing. Already  the  muse  finds  her  votaries  within 
the  prison  walls.  Sweet  strains  are  already 
heard  from  the  dark,  gloomy  cell.  The  essay- 
ist, the  poet,  the  orator,  is  there.  How  often  do 
we  find,  beneath  the  rubbish  of  crime,  a  mind 
that  has  reached  a  lofty  height  in  science  ! 
How  often  do  we  find  one  who  has  even  received 
the  polish  of  education,  but  whose  heart  has  run 
to  waste  !  Alas  !  how  much  of  the  education  of 
our  day  merely  reaches  the  intellect !  Look  at 
our  schools  and  universities.  How  much  is  done 
8 


122  OUR   DAY. 

for  the  mental !  —  how  little  for  the  moral !    But 
this  is  too  wide  a  field. 

III.  The  doctrine  of  universal  brotherhood 
presents  a  strong  motive  for  extending  sympathy 
to  the  prisoner.  This  great  doctrine  was  beauti- 
fully embodied  in  the  life  and  teachings  of  the 
Son  of  God.  For  the  utterance  of  this  truth, 
the  world  owes  him  a  debt  of  everlasting  grati- 
tude. Simple  human  brotherhood  was  taught  by 
Moses.  But  who  was  that  brother  ?  It  was  the 
Jew.  It  remained  for  the  Great  Teacher  to  set 
forth  and  illustrate  the  sublime  doctrine  of  Uni- 
versal Brotherhood.  How  admirably  is  this  done 
by  his  precepts  and  example  !  Look  at  his 
inimitable  parables  of  the  Prodigal  Son  and  the 
Good  Samaritan.  What  rich  imagery !  What 
a  lesson  of  kindness  !  In  what  an  affectionate 
manner  was  it  presented  to  the  human  soul ! 
It  was  no  dull,  cold,  lifeless  truth,  addressed 
merely  to  the  intellect.  The  whole  soul  vibrated 
to  purity  and  goodness.  No  wonder  the  people 
exclaimed,  "  Never  man  spake  like  this  man." 
No  other  doctrine  will  ever  convert  the  world. 
The  hour  is  coming  when  it  will  be  diffused 
over  the  whole  earth.  Its  purifying  influences 
will  reach  the  heart  of  the  monarch,  as  well  as 
the  subject.  Already  do  we  see  this  great  senti- 
ment of  universal  brotherhood  penetrating  all 


THE    CRIMINAL.  123 

ranks  and  classes.  In  its  progress,  it  builds  an 
asylum  for  the  blind,  a  school  for  the  orphan, 
a  Bethel  for  the  sailor,  a  home  for  the  idiot,  a 
refuge  for  the  inebriate,  an  institute  for  the 
dumb.  Here  it  has  stopped:  not  of  itself;  for 
it  has  a  power  that  will  overcome  all  obstacles. 
Selfishness  hedges  up  its  way.  It  is  to  move 
on,  and  embrace  the  prisoner.  It  is  to  find  its 
way  into  the  solitary  cell.  It  is  to  follow  him 
when  he  leaves  that  cell  to  mingle  again  with 
society,  finding  him  protection  and  employment. 
In  due  time,  it  will  lay  the  corner-stone  of  an 
edifice,  over  the  door  of  which  shall  be  written, 
in  the  enduring  marble,  AN  ASYLUM  FOR  DIS- 
CHARGED CONVICTS. 

Look  at  the  example  of  Jesus.  A  poor, 
trembling  culprit  was  brought  before  him.  The 
stern  law  of  that  day  condemned  her  to  an 
ignominious  death.  Shamed  by  the  withering 
rebuke  of  Jesus,  her  eagle-eyed  enemies  left  him 
alone  with  her.  Then  he  said :  "  Woman,  where 
are  those  thine  accusers  ?  Hath  no  man  con- 
demned thee  ?  She  said,  No  man,  Lord.  Jesus 
said  unto  her,  Neither  do  I  condemn  thee.  Go, 
and  sin  no  more."  The  prison-walls  have  not 
yet  resounded  with  this  noble  sentiment  "  Could 
it  but  enter  the  heart  of  every  legislator ;  did  it 
but  guide  the  hand  that  constructs  the  cell  of 


124  OUR    DAY. 

the  poor  captive ;  did  it  apportion  his  pallet  of 
straw,  and  his  scanty  meal ;  did  it  determine  the 
completeness  and  the  duration  of  his  exclusion 
from  the  light  of  day,  and  the  pure  breeze  of 
heaven  ;  did  it  apply  his  manacles  (if,  disdain- 
ing to  treat  a  human  being  with  more  indignity 
than  is  practised  towards  the  most  savage  brutes, 
it  did  not  dash  his  chains  to  the  earth) ,  what  a 
different  aspect  would  these  miserable  mansions 
soon  assume  !  What  different  inhabitants  would 
they  contain !  Prisons  would  not  then  be  the 
hot-beds  of  vice,  in  which  the  youthful  offender 
grows  into  the  hardened  criminal,  and  the  want 
of  shame  succeeds  the  abolition  of  principle  — 
but  hospitals  of  the  mind,  in  which  its  moral 
disorder  is  removed  by  the  application  of  effec- 
tual remedies."*  When  this  doctrine  reaches 
the  gloomy  cell,  then  will  every  prison  become 
an  asylum ;  then  will  every  gibbet  be  demol- 
ished ;  and  then  will  ancient  prophecy  find  a 
new  application  :  "  I  will  make  thy  officers 
peace,  and  thy  exactors  righteousness  ;  violence 
shall  no  more  be  heard  in  thy  land,  wasting  nor 
destruction  within  thy  borders ;  but  thou  shalt 
call  thy  walls  salvation,  and  thy  gates  praise." 

*  Illustrations  of  the  Divine  Government.    By  T.   SOCTHWOOD 
.Sunn.    p.  838.    Boston :  1831. 


125 


A  PRISONER'S  DEATH. 

BY  JAMES  LUMBAUD. 

FULL  twenty  years  have  flown  — 
Years  of  most  hopeless  agony  and  pain  — 

Since  he  was  rudely  thrown 
Within  those  walls  where  dread  and  darkness  reign. 

The  joyous  light,  that  shines 
So  blessedly  upon  the  homes  of  men, 

In  faint  and  feeble  lines 
Falls  through  the  grated  window  of  his  den ! 

The  pure,  free  winds,  that  steal 
With  balmy  freshness  through  their  happy  homes, 

Their  breath  he  cannot  feel : 
In  that  dark  cell  of  his  it  never  comes ! 

And  music,  that  they  hear 
From  human  voices  and  from  nature's  choir, 

Comes  never  to  his  ear, 
To  gratify  his  yearning  soul's  desire. 


126  OUR   DAT. 

The  friends  he  knew,  ere  yet 
Upon  his  brow  the  seal  of  crime  was  placed, 

He  cannot  well  forget ; 
But  from  their  hearts  his  name  is  now  erased. 

His  young  and  lovely  wife, 
From  whom  't  was  more  than  agony  to  part, 

Soon  yielded  up  her  life, 
And  left  the  record  of  a  broken  heart. 

Upon  his  couch  he  lies, 
The  embodiment  of  misery  and  despair ; 

He  lifts  his  sunken  eyes, 
And  this  is  his  impassioned,  earnest  prayer : 

"  O  Father!  if  thy  piercing  eye 

Can  all  thy  hapless  children  see, 
Oh  !  listen  to  my  earnest  cry, 
And  cast  that  pitying  eye  on  me ! 

I  know  that  lengthened  years  of  sin 
Have  led  my  heart  from  thee  away ; 

And  that,  where  innocence  had  been, 
Dark  passions  held  determined  sway. 

I  pray,  that  from  my  soul  the  stains 
Of  guilt  and  crime  may  be  erased ; 

And  that,  where  fearful  doubting  reigns, 
True  hope  may  be  securely  placed. 


A  PRISONER'S  DEATH.  127 

A  little  while,  and  I  shall  leave 

The  shadows  that  engirt  me  here; 
And  that  immortal  life  receive, 

Conferred  by  thee  beyond  this  sphere. 

Oh  !  take  me  to  thyself,  and  pour 

Within  my  soul  the  tide  of  love ; 
That  I  may  with  the  saints  adore, 

Who  worship  in  thy  courts  above ! " 

One  groan  !  his  languid  head 
Fell  back,  and  all  his  throes  and  straggles  ceased ; 

The  prisoner  was  dead,  — 
For  ever  from  that  hideous  grave  released  ! 

God  speed  the  happy  time 
When  man  shall  learn  that  to  be  just  is  not 

To  seek  revenge  for  crime, 
And  hope  for  ever  from  the  spirit  blot !  — 

That,  if  he  fain  would  make 
The  guilty  tread  the  path  from  which  they  stray, 

With  kindness  he  must  take 
Them  by  the  hand,  and  point  them  out  the  way ! 


128 


FOURIER  AND  HIS  SOCIAL  SYSTEM. 


BY  HORACE   GREELEY. 


EXTRACT  FROM  AN  UNPUBLISHED  LECTURE 
ON  "  SOCIETY." 

*  *  *  *  THE  last  of  the  social  archi- 
tects, to  whom  I  shall  invite  your  attention,  is 
CHARLES  FOURIER  ;  and,  if  I  ask  more  of  your 
time  for  a  development  of  the  nature  and  de- 
tails of  his  system,  it  is  because  I  consider  his 
plans  far  less  imperfect  in  themselves  than  any 
other,  and  more  likely  to  lead  to  beneficent 
results.  Fourier,  born  at  Besancon,  in  France, 
1772,  was  trained  to  commercial  pursuits  in  the 
shop  of  his  father,  a  woollen-draper;  where,  at 
five  years  of  age,  he  was  punished  for  telling  the 
truth  to  a  customer,  whereby  a  purchase  was 
prevented.  From  this  time  his  infantine  mind 
pondered  anxiously  on  the  means  of  obviating 
frauds  in  commercial  dealings,  and  of  establish- 
ing uniform  truth  and  justice  in  the  business 


FOURIER   AND    HIS    SOCIAL    SYSTEM.      129 

relations  of  mankind.  At  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  he  engaged  in  commerce  for  himself,  on  a 
capital  of  SI 6,000,  his  portion  of  the  family 
property ;  which  was  swept  away  before  the 
close  of  that  year,  in  the  siege  and  capture  of 
Lyons,  during  the  convulsions  which  attended 
the  French  Revolution.  His  life  was  barely 
saved  by  escape  and  flight ;  he  was  again  ar- 
rested at  Besancon,  and  compelled  to  enter  the 
army  to  avoid  execution,  but,  after  two  years' 
service,  was  discharged,  on  account  of  ill  health. 
He  afterwards  engaged  as  clerk  at  Marseilles ; 
where  he  was  employed  to  throw  into  the  river 
an  immense  quantity  of  rice,  which  had  been 
monopolized  in  a  season  of  public  scarcity,  in 
the  hope  of  realizing  an  enormous  profit ;  but 
which,  having  been  held  too  high  and  kept  too 
long,  became  worthless  and  unsaleable.  Other 
incidents  conspired  to  stimulate  his  early  resolu- 
tion to  discover  the  means  of  preventing  the 
calamities  resulting  to  mankind  from  the  frauds, 
extortions,  falsehoods,  and  adulterations  of  com- 
merce. Pursuing  this  inquiry,  he  saw  the  field 
wider  before  him ;  disclosing  and  embracing  the 
broad  domain  of  Industry,  and  the  whole  social 
condition  of  our  race.  He  became  convinced, 
that  nothing  short  of  a  universal  science  could 
solve  the  difficulties  and  obscurities  in  which  this 


130  OTJK  DAY. 

vast  subject  was  involved.  This  science,  of 
which  the  outline  was,  as  he  believed,  discovered 
by  him  in  1799,  was  first  set  before  the  public 
in  1808,  in  his  earliest  work,  "  The  Theory  of 
the  Four  Movements,"  or  of  universal  attraction 
and  repulsion.  [This  was  four  years  previous 
to  the  appearance  of  Owen's  "  New  View  of 
Society."]  The  volume  which  was  published 
was  but  one  of  eight,  of  which  the  whole  work 
was  to  consist,  and  was  rather  a  prospectus  of 
what  was  to  follow.  Those  who  know  any  thing 
of  the  common  or  probable  fate  of  such  works 
will  not  need  to  be  told  that  the  other  seven 
were  never  published  —  at  least  not  in  their 
author's  lifetime.  I  have  heard  that  a  copy  of 
the  published  volume  was  submitted  to  Napo- 
leon, then  in  the  zenith  of  his  power  and  glory. 
The  relentless  warrior,  then  involved  in  his 
Spanish  war,  and  about  to  plunge  into  another 
desperate  struggle  with  Austria,  bestowed  but 
little  thought  upon  it.  "  The  earth  must  first 
be  ploughed  by  the  sword,"  said  he,  "before  it 
will  be  fitted  to  produce  such  harvests  as  this 
man  thinks  of."  It  was  ploughed  with  the 
sword,  —  how  thoroughly,  let  Wagram,  and  Bor- 
odino, and  Leipsic,  and  "Waterloo,  bear  witness. 
In  the  event,  Napoleon  was  hurled  to  his  island- 
rock  ;  having  found  no  time  to  look  farther  into 


FOURIER    AND    HIS    SOCIAL    SYSTEM.      131 

the  undistinguished  citizen's  far-reaching  specu- 
lations on  divine  benignity  and  human  destiny. 

The  name  of  Fourier's  first  work  will  have 
indicated,  that,  though  he  may  be  condemned  as 
visionary,  he  cannot  rationally  be  considered  nar- 
row or  superficial.  Though  his  primary  object 
was  the  prevention  of  fraud,  and  whatever  indu- 
ces men  to  act  in  opposition  to  the  general  or 
highest  good,  his  researches  took  the  widest 
scope;  and  he  undoubtedly  believed  that  their 
result  was  the  discovery  of  the  laws  of  universal 
unity,  or  those  divinely-ordained  harmonies,  by  a 
knowledge  and  observance  of  which,  all  discord, 
all  evil,  shall  be  banished  from  the  earth.  At- 
traction and  Repulsion  being  the  laws  by  which 
planets  are  held  in  their  orbits,  oceans  hi  their 
beds,  and  the  multiform  races  of  animals  nur- 
tured in  infancy,  and  taught  to  do  whatever  is 
proper  and  needful  to  them,  —  Fourier  held  that 
these  same  laws,  duly  applied  to  the  organization 
and  mechanism  of  society,  will  there  produce 
equally  benign  results.  Some  of  the  more  im- 
portant of  Fourier's  deductions  from  a  profound 
and  critical  investigation  of  nature,  I  have  very 
freely  rendered,  as  follows  :  — 

1.  The  attractions  of  all  beings  are  propor- 
tioned to  their  destinies.  Thus  every  animal  is 
fitted,  by  nature  and  inclination,  for  the  element 


132  OFK    DAT. 

he  is  to  inhabit,  and  the  life  he  is  destined  to  lead. 
So  man  is  precisely  fitted  for  that  social  harmony 
for  which  he  was  created,  but  which  he  has  not 
hitherto  discovered  and  realized. 

2.  The  harmonies  of  the  universe  are  distrib- 
uted in  series,  stretching  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest  order  of  beings.     Whatever  law  exists  for 
one,  exists  for  every  other ;  though  necessarily 
modified  in  its  applications.     To  understand  tho- 
roughly the  laws  which  govern  one,  is  to  under- 
stand the  laws  which  govern  all. 

3.  The  human  race  exists,  not  as  many,  but  as 
one.     The  ignorance,  vice,  misery,  which  seem 
to  afflict  but  a  part,  do  truly  mar  the  happiness 
of  all.     Hence  no  reform  can  be  perfect  which  is 
not  universal,  and  no  happiness  unalloyed  until 
all  evil  is  vanquished.     The  good  should  labor 
and  strive  for  nothing  less  than  the  emancipation 
and  elevation  of  the  race. 

4.  All  needful  labor  may  be  rendered  attrac- 
tive.  By  this  he  means,  not  merely  that  all  labor 
may,  by  proper  inducements,  be  procured  with- 
out constraint  or  degrading  servitude  ;  but  that, 
under  proper  arrangements,  men  will  love  labor 
for  itself,  will  prize  it  as  an  intrinsic  good,  and 
as  contributing  to  health,  vigor,  enjoyment,  and 
true  dignity.      To  this  law  Fourier  admits,  in 
practice,  some  exceptions ;  consisting  of  labors 


FOURIER   AND   HIS    SOCIAL    SYSTEM.       133 

now  requisite,  which  are  intrinsically  repulsive 
and  disgusting,  for  which  he  prescribes  increased 
rewards  and  the  highest  social  honors.  All 
other  labor,  he  insists,  may  and  will  be  per- 
formed as  freely  and  willingly  as  hunting,  fishing, 
and  other  sporting  functions,  are  in  our  existing 
society. 

o.  The  right  to  labor,  and  to  the  fair  reward 
of  labor,  inheres  in  all  men,  and  cannot  he  with- 
held from  any  without  grievous  wrong  and  injury. 
The  man  who  has  no  resource  but  in  the  strength 
of  his  sinews,  the  skill  of  his  fingers,  has  a  posi- 
tive claim  on  the  possessors  of  land  and  of  pro- 
perty, for  opportunity  to  earn  and  receive  a 
subsistence. 

On  these  principles,  here  most  imperfectly 
stated,  is  based  Fourier's  system  of  society. 

Let  me  endeavor  to  set  before  you  some  rude 
idea  of  a  community,  constituted  according  to 
Fourier's  suggestions.  But,  in  order  that  you 
may  understand  the  change  he  proposes,  I  will 
first  give  a  sketch  of  the  society  he  would  su- 
persede :  — 

A  Northern  township  [answering  to  the  French 
commune,  and,  in  some  respects,  to  the  smaller 
counties  of  Virginia]  is  a  tract  some  six  miles 
square,  inhabited,  in  the  average,  by  about  two 
thousand  inhabitants,  divided  into  four  hundred 


134  OUR  DAT. 

families.  Of  these  families,  one-half  obtain  their 
subsistence  by  farming  ;  a  fourth  by  the  various 
mechanical  or  manufacturing  arts ;  half-a-dozen 
by  merchandise ;  three  or  four  by  religious  teach- 
ing ;  two  or  three  by  law ;  as  many  by  physic ; 
a  few  are  so  wealthy  as  to  be  above  the  neces- 
sity for  labor  ;  some  are  loafers,  supported  by 
the  town ;  while  perhaps  a  dozen  live  as  they 
may,  by  hiring  out  to  labor  when  they  must,  and 
picking  up  whatever  they  can  at  all  times.  It 
would  be  a  liberal  estimate  to  say,  that  three 
hundred  good  days'  work  are  performed  daily  on 
the  average,  in  all  branches  of  productive  labor, 
among  these  two  thousand  people  ;  while  per- 
haps as  much  more  labor  is  performed  by  women, 
children,  and  servants,  in  the  less  profitable,  but 
still  essential,  duties  of  the  household.  Out  of 
the  products  of  this  labor,  often  rudely  applied 
and  unskilfully  directed,  the  whole  community 
must  obtain  such  a  livelihood  as  it  has. 

Fourier's  system  would  make  of  these  four 
hundred  families  one  community,  or  association, 
inhabiting  one  vast,  capacious  edifice  (instead  of 
four  hundred  scattered  dwellings  of  all  grades, 
from  comfortable  to  miserable),  with  half-a-dozen 
spacious  and  perfectly-constructed  granaries,  in- 
stead of  three  hundred  ill-adapted,  leaky  barns, 
the  safe  harbors  of  countless  destructive  quadru- 


FOURIER   AND   HIS    SOCIAL    SYSTEM.       135 

peds.     These  buildings  he  would  locate  conve- 
niently to  the  choicest  lands  of  the  association, 
and  near  its  water-power,  if  such  were  among 
its   possessions.      Instead   of  some   twenty  odd 
thousand  acres  of  land  (the  area  of  the  town- 
ship),  the   association   would   require   but  half 
so  much ;  but  of  this  the  arable  portion  would 
be  brought  to  and  kept  at  the  highest  point  of 
cultivation.     The  property  would  be  represented 
by  stock,  as  in  a  railroad  or  bank ;  each  mem- 
ber, whether  resident  or  not,  holding  shares  and 
receiving  dividends  according  to  his  investment. 
The   whole   of  the   produce   is   to  be   sold    or 
valued   annually  ;   a  fixed   interest   or  propor- 
tionate dividend  paid   to  the  capital ;   and  the 
residue  apportioned  to  all  the  members,  accord- 
ing to  the  amount  and  efficiency  of  the  labor 
and  skill  of  each.     Meantime,  education  is  zeal- 
ously prosecuted  in  the  association ;   the  fittest 
persons   being   chosen   for  teachers   in   various 
departments,  who  are  to  initiate  all  the  children, 
not  merely  into  the  rudiments  of  learning,  as 
now  taught  in  schools,  but  into  the  principles  of 
Mechanics,  the  knowledge  of  Chemistry,  Geo- 
logy, Botany,  but,  above  all,  into  the  love  and 
practice   of  Industry.      From   earliest  infancy 
they  are  to  be  familiarized  with  the  various  pro- 
cesses of  Agriculture,   Manufactures,  and   the 


136  OUR   DAT. 

Arts;  they  are  to  see  labor,  however  rude  or 
repulsive,  the  main  source  of  honor  and  dis- 
tinction, as  well  as  wealth ;  and  they  are  to  be 
thus  taught  to  seek  the  knowledge  and  skill 
which  shall  fit  them  for  eminence  in  the  domain 
of  Industry,  and  to  grasp  the  earliest  opportunity 
of  winning  her  cherished  rewards.  Such  is  a 
very  meagre  outline  of  the  means  by  which  labor 
is  to  be  rendered  attractive. 

Among  the  material  advantages  reckoned  by 
Fourier,  as  inevitably  resulting  frorh  association, 
as  contrasted  with  the  present  modes  of  life  and 
industry,  are  these  :  — 

1.  A  saving  of    at  least  nine-tenths  of    the 
fuel  now  required,  of  the  land  set  apart  to  pro- 
duce, and  the  labor  needed  to  prepare  it. 

2.  A   saving   of   nineteen-twentieths    of    the 
fences    now    required,   covering    and    defacing 
the  land,  and  requiring  endless  repairs,  materials, 
and  attention. 

3.  A  saving  of   the  time  now  consumed    in 
the  endless  exchanges  of  products  between  the 
various  classes  of  producers,  and  in  petty  trade. 

4.  A  saving  of  the  labor  now  misapplied  and 
wasted,  by  reason  of  the  want  of  skill  or  science 
in  the  workman,  or  rendered  relatively  inefficient 
by  the  want  of  the  best  labor-saving  machinery. 
The  small  fanner  cannot  afford  to  purchase  for 


FOURIER   AXD    HIS    SOCIAL    SYSTEM.       137 

his  few  acres  all  the  costly  implements  of  the 
most  skilful  modern  husbandry. 

5.  A  saving   of    three-fourths   of    the  labor 
now  required  for  the  preparation  of  food,  and  in 
the  various  departments  of  the  household.     It 
is  evident,  that  these  would  require  far  less  labor 
in  one  house  than  in  five  hundred  ;  and  that  the 
food  of  two  thousand  persons  may  be  prepared 
in  three  or  four  spacious  apartments,  amply  sup- 
plied with  every  convenience,  with  infinitely  less 
labor  than  in  four  hundred  petty  kitchens,  with 
scarcely  any  convenience  at  all.     Whether  the 
members  shall  partake  of  their  food  at  common 
tables,   in   small   groups,  or  in   families,  is   to 
depend  on  the  free  choice  of  each. 

6.  A  saving  of  the  entire  services  of  those 
now  employed  in  the  unproductive  functions  of 
retail  trade;    and  of  most  of  those  now  living 
by  law,  physic,  &c.  &c.     One  good  physician 
would  be  enough ;  one  lawyer,  it  is  hoped,  too 
much  for  an  association  ;  while  fewer  but  better 
teachers  than  are  now  required  would  impart  a 
far  wider  range  of  instruction  to  the  young. 

These  are  but  a  part  of  the  economies  insisted 
on  by  Fourier,  who  is  sanguine  in  the  faith, 
that  the  annual  product  of  the  community  would 
be  fourfold  what  it  now  is;  while  an  immense 
saving,  on  the  other  hand,  of  property  now 
9 


138  .  OUR    DAY. 

destroyed  by  waste,  and  ignorance,  and  subdi- 
vision, and  want  of  skill,  is  also  predicted. 

The  general  results  which  he  affirms  are 
these :  — 

1.  All  needful  labor  skilfully  and  cheerfully 
performed.  In  so  large  a  community,  there 
would  be  found  capacity  for  every  duty,  and  a 
duty  for  every  capacity  ;  so  that  each  indi- 
vidual would  find  that  employment  best  suited 
to  his  abilities,  and  which,  by  a  general  though 
not  inflexible  rule,  would  be  to  him  most  at- 
tractive. In  the  exceptional  instances  of  duties 
to  be  performed,  which  no  one  would  undertake 
of  choice,  their  recompense  is  to  be  raised  until 
some  one  is  induced  to  undertake  them. 

2.  Every  individual  —  infants,  idiots,  and 
disabled  persons,  excepted  —  will  be  secured  the 
means  of  earning  an  ample  subsistence,  and  of 
acquiring  property  ahead.  The  vast  economies 
and  vastly  increased  productions  of  the  commu- 
nity are  to  redound  to  the  benefit,  not  mainly  of 
Capital,  but  of  Labor.  Each  man,  woman,  and 
child,  is  guaranteed  the  fullest  opportunity  to 
labor  and  earn,  in  the  vocation  of  his  or  her 
choice,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  and  with  assu- 
rance of  the  just  and  fair  reward  of  his  or  her 
exertions.  To  women  and  children,  gardening, 
horticulture,  the  care  of  fruits,  and  the  prosecu- 


FOURIER   AND    HIS    SOCIAL    SYSTEM.       139 

tion  of  a  great  variety  of  manufactures,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  cares  of  the  household,  proffer  indus- 
trial careers  as  ample,  varied,  and  independent, 
as  those  of  men.  With  each  individual  an 
account  is  kept ;  in  which  he  is  charged  the  fair 
cost  of  his  subsistence,  the  rent  of  his  apart- 
ments, and  whatever  he  draws  from  the  common 
stores  ;  while  he  is  credited  for  his  labor,  or  the 
fruits  of  that  labor,  whether  used  by  the  associa- 
tion, or  sold  at  its  fair  market  value. 

3.  The  most  thorough  education  is  guaranteed 
to  every  individual.  The  schools,  though  ample, 
well-taught,  and  never  intermitted,  are  not,  ac- 
cording to  Fourier,  the  main  sources  of  know- 
ledge ;  but  the  fields,  the  edifices,  the  workshops, 
manufactories,  and  all  industrial  processes,  are  to 
be  rendered  his  books  and  his  monitors.  From 
earliest  infancy,  a  thirst  for  information  is  to  be 
studiously  excited.  The  child  is  to  be  trained 
to  seek  honor  in  usefulness,  pleasure  in  duty, 
and  to  plead  for  instruction  in  Letters  and  in 
Arts,  as  the  means  of  enjoyment  and  of  personal 
distinction.  To  become  familiar  with  some  new 
truth,  some  new  process,  some  application  of 
science  to  the  promotion  of  human  well-being,  is 
his  daily  step-stone  on  the  path  of  manhood  and 
its  honors.  The  library  of  the  association,  open 
to  all,  will  afford  the  amplest  stores  of  knowledge 


140  OUR    DAT. 

to  old  and  young ;  while  stated  meetings  of  those 
engaged  in  each  branch  of  industry  will  be  held, 
to  receive  and  to  impart  the  results  of  expe- 
rience, of  observation,  and  of  study,  until  the 
knowledge  and  skill  of  each  shall  be  combined 
in  the  understanding  and  practice  of  all. 

Such  are  some  rude,  imperfect  outlines  of 
Fourier's  system.  Of  the  means  by  which  he 
proposes  to  secure  to  each  his  just  dividend  of 
the  aggregate  product  —  to  each  family  the  do- 
mestic privacy  and  sanctity  of  its  own  apart- 
ments— to  each  individual  or  family  the  freedom 
of  living  more  or  less  sumptuously,  according  to 
ability  or  inclinations  —  I  have  not  room  to 
speak  in  this  place.  Unlike  every  other  notable 
social  architect,  from  Plato  to  Owen,  Fourier  is 
wholly  averse  to  Communism  or  Agrarianism ; 
as  utterly  subversive  of  justice  not  merely,  but 
of  individual  freedom.  Basing  his  system  on  a 
rigorous  analysis  of  the  divine  economy,  as 
evinced  in  nature,  he  holds  that  diversity,  not 
uniformity,  is  the  fundamental  law  to  which  all 
human  regulation  must  conform.  Many  are 
indifferent  to  present  gratification,  but  eager 
for  permanent  acquisition  ;  others  are  careless  of 
the  future,  so  that  the  present  be  but  joyous. 
Some  choose  to  devote  a  large  proportion  of 
their  income  to  dress,  others  to  food ;  others 


FOURIER   AND    HIS    SOCIAL    SYSTEM.       141 

delight  in  spacious  and  richly-furnished  apart- 
ments. Some  grudge  every  moment  abstracted 
from  their  work  ;  others  regret  rather  those 
hours  wherein  they  must  work.  Fourier,  insist- 
ing that  work  may  be  rendered  as  attractive  as 
play  now  is,  leaves  to  each  individual  the  perfect 
control  of  his  hours  and  their  uses  ;  the  associa- 
tion taking  care  only  that  his  earnings  shall 
equal  the  cost  of  his  subsistence;  in  default 
of  which,  his  stock  is  sold  to  make  up  the 
deficiency,  until  it  has  entirely  disappeared,  when 
his  rights  of  residence  and  membership  are  at 
an  end. 

In  short,  while  St.  Simon  erects  his  social 
fabric  on  universal  love,  and  Owen  on  calm, 
enlightened  reason,  Fourier  builds  on  absolute, 
comprehensive,  and  carefully  administered  jus- 
tice ;  a  justice  which  secures  to  each  his  own, 
whether  of  development,  of  opportunity,  or  of  re- 
compense. Give  every  one  the  work  for  which 
he  is  best  fitted,  give  him  knowledge  and  skill, 
and  guarantee  him  the  full  reward  of  his  exer- 
tions ;  but  disturb  not  the  foundations  of  pro- 
perty, nor  transfer  to  any  one,  save  in  charity, 
the  earnings  of  another.  This  keen  sense  of 
justice  is  the  basis  of  his  hostility  to  commerce, 
other  than  the  wholesale  interchange  of  the 
products  of  different  climes  and  communities. 


142  OUR   DAY. 

Traders,  as  such,  have  no  place  in  his  social 
economy.  The  extent  and  minuteness  of  his 
arrangements,  to  obviate  the  possibility  of  casting 
injustice,  and  to  reconcile  perfect  order  and 
harmony  with  the  largest  individual  freedom,  can 
be  apprehended  only  by  those  who  are  familiar 
with  his  works. 

Yet  I  could  not,  with  any  confidence  of  a 
favorable  result,  invite  the  mass  of  readers  to 
study  Fourier's  system  in  his  own  writings. 
Replete  as  they  are  with  profound  observation, 
and  the  most  searching  analytical  criticism,  they 
will  not  impress  happily  the  casual  or  careless 
student.  The  author  is  too  positive  in  his  self- 
assurance —  too  dogmatic  —  too  contemptuous  in 
his  regard  for  whatever  opposes  his  views.  He 
has  no  adequate  patience  with  our  difficulty  in 
seeing  through  his  spectacles  on  the  first  trial. 
A  lonely,  obscure,  thoughtful,  studious  man, 
treated  with  obloquy,  or  more  commonly  a  dis- 
dainful silence,  by  the  world's  flattered  teachers 
and  arbiters,  as  though  he  were  an  idiot  or  a 
madman,  we  may  not  wonder,  but  must  regret, 
that  he  returned  scorn  for  scorn ;  and  that  many 
of  his  later  works  are  marred  by  fierce  denun- 
ciations of  the  duplicity,  barrenness,  and  so- 
phistry of  the  leaders  of  public  opinion. 

The  world  without,  and  that  within,  such  a 


FOUEIER   AST)   HIS    SOCIAL    SYSTEM.      143 

man,  must  present  a  strange  and  striking  con- 
trast. Around  him,  poverty,  neglect,  derision,  — 
a  settled  hostility,  or  a  more  humiliating  indif- 
ference ;  within,  the  consciousness  of  mighty  dis- 
coveries, —  of  truths  competent  now,  and  certain 
ultimately,  to  transform  and  electrify  mankind. 
Around  him,  obstruction  and  want,  —  perhaps 
hunger  and  cold ;  within,  the  deep  conviction 
that  he  had  discovered  the  means  ordained  of 
God  for  banishing  want  from  the  earth,  by 
quadrupling  production,  diminishing  wasteful 
consumption,  renovating  and  beautifying  the 
earth ;  until  at  last  even  the  polar  ices  should 
be  dissolved,  and  a  joyous,  exhilarating  spring- 
time envelope  our  planet  The  reclamation  of 
deserts,  of  pestilential  marshes,  of  wildernesses, 
and  snow-capped  mountains,  until  all  earth  shall 
praise  heaven,  by  comforting  and  blessing  man- 
kind ;  all  these,  and  many  more  dizzying,  are 
among  the  ultimate  consequences  of  social  reor- 
ganization anticipated  by  Fourier. 

This  sanguine  spirit  waited  eight  years  after 
his  first  work  appeared,  for  a  disciple,  —  perhaps 
for  his  first  attentive  reader.  Six  years  later,  he 
published  his  second  work  ;  which  was  met,  like 
the  former,  by  absolute  silence  and  indifference 
on  the  part  of  the  press,  and  so  remained  un- 
known to  the  public.  It  was  not  till  ten  years 


144  OUR   DAT. 

afterward,  on  the  dispersion  of  the  St.  Simonian 
fraternity,  in  1832,  that  he  obtained  any  general 
hearing.  Then  a  considerable  number  were 
attracted  by  his  theory ;  a  journal  was  started ; 
and,  in  spite  of  his  earnest  remonstrances,  an 
estate  was  purchased  near  Paris,  and  an  attempt 
made  at  practical  association.  It  failed,  at  the 
outset,  for  want  of  means ;  though,  if  this  had 
been  surmounted,  the  want  of  knowledge  and  of 
fit  men  would,  doubtless,  have  been  found  as 
serious  an  obstacle  to  success.  The  unthinking 
many  were  repelled  by  the  failure,  of  which 
they  neither  knew  nor  cared  to  know  the  rea- 
sons ;  the  judicious  few  stood  unmoved.  Their 
journal  was  kept  up,  and  its  circulation  extended; 
and,  abandoning  the  idea  of  practical  experiment 
until  knowledge  shall  have  been  adequately  dif- 
fused, and  the  confidence  of  men  of  wealth  and 
influence  obtained,  they  are  still  laboring  in  the 
cause  with  spirit  and  success.  In  France  they 
number  thousands,  including  many  eminent  in 
station,  in  intellect,  and  in  worth ;  in  England 
they  have  made  some  progress  ;  in  Germany 
more,  though  there  they  are  checked  by  the 
prevalence  of  Communism ;  in  this  country  the 
doctrines  of  Fourier  have  gained  adherents  in 
every  State,  and,  in  some  sections,  in  almost  every 
neighborhood,  and  are  still  making  steady  pro- 


FOURIER   AND    HIS    SOCIAL    SYSTEM.       145 

gress.  Meantime,  Fourier  himself  has  gone 
down  to  the  grave  in  obscurity,  but  in  undoubt- 
ing  conviction  of  having  pointed  the  way  to  a 
loftier  and  happier  career  for  humanity  on  earth. 
He  died  in  1837. 

I  have  thus  hurriedly  traced  the  outlines  of 
Fourier's  life  and  social  system,  —  the  industrial 
and  economical,  rather  than  the  intellectual  and 
spiritual,  features  of  the  latter.  I  doubt  not  that 
I  have  exposed  him  to  objections  which  a  better 
knowledge  of  his  works  would  remove ;  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  I  have  passed  over  many  of  his 
speculations,  on  subjects  having  no  necessary 
connection  with  the  social  reform,  that  would  be 
likely  to  provoke  opposition.  He  was  a  bold 
adventurer  in  unknown  seas  ;  and  whether  he 
brought  back  more  pearls  or  bubbles  I  need  not 
here  discuss.  I  stop  not  for  criticism  or  pane- 
gyric, even  on  his  social  theory ;  though  it  seems 
to  me  to  invite  the  one,  and  deserve  the  other. 
What  time  I  may  trespass  farther  on  your  atten- 
tion shall  rather  be  devoted  to  the  living  and  the 
practical ;  to  a  consideration  of  our  own  duties, 
our  hopes,  and  our  responsibilities,  in  connection 
with  social  reform. 

The  famous  pamphlet  of  the  Abbe  Sieyes  on 
the  Third  Estate,  or  Commons,  of  France,  which 
gave  so  powerful  an  initial  impulse  to  the  great 


146  OUR   DAT. 

revolution,  assumed  to  propose  and  answer  three 
questions  :  —  "  What  is  the  Third  Estate  ?  No- 
thing. What  might  it  be  ?  Every  thing.  What 
should  it  be ?  Something"  In  a  kindred  spirit, 
I  am  accustomed  to  regard  the  various  efforts  in 
our  day,  for  effecting  a  radical  social  reform.  *  * 


147 


A   PRAYER. 

BY   JAMES  LUMBAHD. 

O  FATHEH  !  give  us  earnest  hearts  to  feel 

For  the  poor,  injured,  and  degraded  one. 
He  is  our  brother ;  and  may  his  appeal 
For  Freedom,  and  its  blessings  rich,  unseal 

Within  our  hearts  that  fount,  whose  waters  run 
Serenely  bright,  and  inward  gems  reveal ; 

And  may  our  labors,  Holy  One,  avail 
In  softening  the  oppressor's  hardened  heart. 

He,  too,  our  brother  is  ;  though  he  may  fail 
To  act  the  wiser  and  the  better  part. 

Upon  the  tablet  of  his  inmost  soul  engrave 
Thy  will,  in  characters  of  light  and  love ; 

That  he  no  longer  from  the  toiling  slave 
May  hold  that  liberty  vouchsafed  him  from  above. 


148 


THE    BEAVERS. 

BY    REV.   THEODORE    PARKER. 

ONE  day  the  beavers  were  about  building  a 
new  dam,  and  constructing  a  village  of  cabins. 
The  chief  beavers,  the  counsellors,  and  other 
heads  of  the  nation,  assembled  to  talk  about  the 
place,  the  plan,  and  the  like,  when  one  of  them, 
called  CASTOR,  arose  and  addressed  the  as- 
sembly. 

It  seems  that  the  internal  policy  of  the  beav- 
ers, at  that  time,  differed  a  good  deal  from  their 
present  notions  of  political  economy  ;  for  the  few 
wise  beavers  stayed  at  home,  and,  by  dint  of  their 
long  heads,  contrived  to  live  in  splendor,  making 
slaves  of  all  the  rest.  This  Castor  was  a  young 
beaver,  of  great  acuteness  and  parts ;  descended 
from  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  distinguished 
families.  He  spoke  as  follows :  — 

"  I  think  our  present  mode  of  action  is  wrong. 
Hitherto  the  strongest  of  us  have  forced  the  weak 
and  foolish  to  build  the  dams  and  cabins  ;  to  pre- 


THE    BEAVERS.  149 

pare  the  food  of  the  whole  tribe.  At  the  same 
time,  they  do  all  the  work ;  they  have  the  most 
uncomfortable  dwellings,  the  poorest  food,  and 
the  least  of  it.  The  strong  sit  at  home,  and  pre- 
tend to  be  indispensable  to  the  well-being  of  the 
state  ;  but  claim  all  the  ease  and  honor  thereof. 
Let  it  be  so  no  more.  Let  the  strongest  do  the 
hardest  work.  Let  the  wisest  think,  the  most 
prudent  become  the  stewards,  and  the  bravest 
the  soldiers  of  the  whole  tribe.  Then  we  shall 
help  one  another.  There  will  be  no  idle  hands, 
and  no  empty  mouths.  There  will  be  no  idlers 
laid  up  with  the  gout,  and  no  laborers  bent 
double  with  rheumatism,  acquired  through  exces- 
sive toil  and  exposure." 

This  speech  was  received  with  marked  signs 
of  disgust  by  all  the  greybeards.  One  said  to 
the  speaker,  "  /  can 't  bear  ye."  Others  looked 
very  conservative  and  sour.  They  cried  out, 
"  Infidel !  "  "  Atheist !  "  and  the  like.  At  length 
one  Fiber  —  likewise  a  young  beaver  of  illustri- 
ous descent,  for  which  alone  he  was  remark- 
able —  hazarded  a  reply.  He  declared  it  was 
the  law  of  nature  that  the  strongest  and  most 
cunning  should  have  the  best  of  the  loaves  and 
fishes  of  life,  —  (bark  and  wood  were  the  terms 
in  the  original)  —  simply  in  virtue  of  working 
and  thinking  for  themselves  alone.  They  are  the 


150  OUR    DAY. 

natural  lords  of  society ;  they  own  all  the  land, 
and,  of  right,  ought  to  compel  the  others  to  work, 
while  themselves  sit  quiet  at  home,  and  do 
nothing  but  enjoy  what  the  others  have  only  to 
earn  and  not  enjoy.  Anybody  that  doubted  this, 
he  thought,  was  an  infidel,  an  atheist,  and  ought 
to  be  hanged  by  the  tail  till  he  was  dead.  As 
proof  that  such  was  the  general  law  of  nature,  he 
cited  the  case  of  the  LION,  the  BEE,  and  that  of 
MAN,  with  whom,  he  continued,  everybody  knows, 
the  strong  rule,  for  their  own  good,  purely. 

But  Castor  contended,  in  return,  that  it  was 
not  so  ;  for  the  strong  lion,  it  was  shown,  always 
helps  the  feeble ;  brings  home  food  for  the  old, 
the  sickly,  or  the  weak.  He  asked  if  it  could  be 
shown  that  one  lion  ever  forced  a  feebler  one  to 
serve  him.  He  admitted  that  the  queen-bee  did 
not  work  in  getting  materials,  or  in  putting  them 
together.  But  she  did,  nevertheless,  direct  the 
movements  of  the  whole  swarm ;  and  was  often 
obliged  to  sit  up  all  night  long,  taking  an  account 
of  stock,  and  devising  plans  for  the  general  good. 
Besides  this,  she  was  actually  the  mother  of 
every  bee  in  the  hive ;  and  the  bare  work  of  lay- 
ing the  eggs  was  ten  times  the  labor  of  any  other 
of  the  race.  In  addition  to  all  this,  she  was  the 
most  economical  bee  in  the  hive !  He  admitted 
that  the  drones,  being  destitute  of  stings,  were 


THE    BEATERS.  151 

put  to  death  by  the  neuters,  because  they  would 
not  do  any  work,  or  could  not.  This,  he  con- 
fessed, was  wrong.  They  ought  to  be  left  to 
themselves ;  and,  if  they  would  not  work,  they 
might  die,  if  they  saw  fit.  But  the  present  pol- 
icy of  the  bees,  in  respect  to  the  drones,  was  only 
the  natural  reaction  of  the  old  tunes,  when  the 
drones  kept  the  neuters  under  their  thumb ; 
made  interest  with  the  queen-bee,  and  so  got  the 
best  places  in  the  hive,  eat  the  honey,  wasted 
the  wax,  and  imprisoned  or  hung  the  half-starved 
neuters,  if  ever  they  made  a  strike  for  higher 
wages  and  equal  rights.  No  doubt,  said  he,  the 
bees  at  last  will  come  to  their  natural  state. 
But  at  present  they  are  in  advance  of  all  the 
world;  for  everywhere  else  the  drones  have 
the  best  of  it,  and  horribly  oppress  all  the  doers 
of  work. 

As  for  the  case  of  man,  said  he,  that  animal 
with  but  two  legs,  —  who  has  been  but  a  few 
thousand  years  on  the  earth,  and  is  therefore  but 
a  baby,  so  to  say,  —  he  is  at  present  the  most 
frightful  anomaly  in  nature.  To  reason  from 
his  case  to  ours,  to  conclude  that  because  the 
strong  and  the  cunning  among  men  do  over- 
master and  oppress  the  foolish  and  weak,  there- 
fore we  must  always  do  the  same  in  our  state, 
so  much  older,  is  as  foolish  as  to  send  our 


152  OUR   DAT. 

grandfathers  back  to  their  mothers'  breasts,  be- 
cause beavers  newly  born  can  do  nothing  but 
feed  in  that  way. 

"  I  wish,"  said  he,  "  that  my  scheme  might  be 
tried.  If  it  does  not  work  well,  let  us  come 
back  to  the  present  arrangement,  bad  as  it  is. 
You  have  generally  thought,  until  now,  that  I 
am  the  wisest  and  most  powerful  animal  in  this 
settlement :  at  this  early  age,  on  account  of  my 
talents  and  services,  you  have  counted  me  as  a 
prophet  among  the  beavers,  and  conferred  on 
me  the  title  of  Great  Dam  Projector,  an  honor 
never  before  bestowed  on  one  of  my  years.  I 
will  now  go  and  work.  I  will  take  upon  myself 
the  execution  of  the  most  difficult  task,  both  in 
planning  and  effecting  the  work." 

He  did  so.  The  rest  were  ashamed  to  sit 
still.  The  grandees  took  off  their  white  gloves, 
and  went  to  work  like  Gibeonites,  each  doing 
what  he  could  do  best.  All  the  tribe,  in  a  short 
time,  fell  in  with  the  new  plan.  They  had  a 
most  entire  social  unity  of  action.  There  was 
not  a  pauper,  nor  a  glutton,  nor  any  criminal,  in 
their  whole  land.  The  dams  were  better  built 
than  ever  before  ;  their  habitations  were  enclosed 
in  less  time,  and  adorned  with  more  taste  and 
beauty.  All  that  winter  there  was  no  quarrel 
about  mine  and  thine  ;  and  there  never  has  been 


THE    BEAVERS.  153 

since.  All  have  enough,  and  to  spare ;  no  one 
is  proud  of  his  possessions  or  his  power ;  no 
one  grumbles  at  his  work.  They  have  not  yet 
reconsidered  the  vote  by  which  they  adopted 
their  present  constitution. 


10 


154 


DEMOCRACY. 

WHAT  is  true  Democracy  ? 

Tell  us,  wiser  ones,  than  we. 

Tell  us,  ye  who,  night  and  day, 

Lead  the  nations  on  their  way. 

King  of  Europe,  potentate 

Of  an  Asiatic  state ; 

Afric  chief,  or  western  man, 

Red  or  white  American. 

Tell  us,  statesman,  young  or  old ; 

Tell  us,  politician  bold ; 

In  your  strife  for  power  and  place, 

Look  us  fully  in  the  face. 

Heady  for  an  answer  be : 

What  is  true  Democracy  ? 

Is  it  territory  wide, — 
Over  which,  in  freedom,  stride 
Stern  Oppression's  brazen  feet  ? 
Where,  in  fellowship,  may  greet 
Eight  and  Wrong  ?    Or  can  it  be 
In  your  men  "  created  free," 


DEMOCRACY.  155 

As  their  "  Declarations  "  read ; 
While  in  slavery  groan  and  bleed 
Millions  of  their  brethren  true, 
With  a  skin  of  darker  hue  ? 
Enterprise,  or  wealth,  or  fame, 
Under  Democratic  name  ? 
Ballot-boxes,  by  the  score, 
With  then*  free  votes  running  o'er  ? 
Armed  hosts,  with  deafening  din, 
Moving  forth  new  fields  to  win  ? 
Statesmen  strong,  of  bearing  high  ? 
Orators,  to  prophecy 
Of  a  permanent  renown, 
Through  remotest  regions  down  ? 
Call  ye  this  Democracy  ? 
This  the  glory  of  the  free  ? 
Answer  not  thus  impiously  ! 

This  is  true  Democracy,  — 
Where  the  people  all  are  free. 
Free  the  vow  of  Truth  to  take ; 
Free  each  spell  of  Wrong  to  break ; 
Free  to  have  thought,  word,  and  might, 
Sworn  for  ever  to  the  Bight. 
Where,  in  Freedom's  shining  day, 
Bondmen  fling  their  chains  away ; 
Where  Prevention  comes  to  win 
Tempted  souls  from  blighting  sin ; 
Where  Oppression  shall  not  grind ; 
Where  the  poor,  the  crushed,  and  blind, 


156  OUR  DAT. 

Fed,  restored,  and  made  to  see, 
Bless  the  grand  equality. 
Where  the  politician's  strife 
Comes  of  Christian  faith  and  life ; 
Where  no  Christian,  priest  or  lay, 
Hath  expedient  words  to  say ; 
But  for  God  and  Progress  raise 
Heart  of  prayer  and  voice  of  praise. 
Where  the  words  of  Peace  and  Love, 
Boldly  uttered,  surely  prove 
More  effectual  than,  before, 
Murderous  sword  and  cannon-roar. 
Where,  from  mountain-top  and  plain, 
Crowded  mart,  or  heaving  main, 
Turret,  minaret,  or  dome, 
Waves  the  flag  of  Virtue's  home. 
Where,  from  sense  and  meanness  low, 
Public  soul  would  God-ward  go ; 
While  on  earth  its  life  outgiven, 
Here  secures  the  people's  heaven. 
Small  in  number  though  they  be, 
Or  as  sands  on  shore  of  sea ; 
Men  in  earth's  possession  poor, 
Or  with  riches  running  o'er ; 
Reaching  this  whole  wide  world  round, 
Or  in  some  lone  portion  found  ; 
People  who  these  blessings  share, 
Best  to  all  men  can  declare,  — 
Best  this  question  answer  me,  — 
What  is  true  Democracy  ? 


157 


A  DEMON  TO  BE  EXORCISED. 

BY  EXT.  0.  a.   STRICKLAND. 

THERE  is  a  spirit  abroad,  which  not  only  says 
to  three  millions  of  slaves,  "  I  will  devour  thee  ! " 
but  says  the  same  to  every  philanthropist  who 
dares  to  lift  up  his  voice  in  an  earnest  appeal  for 
the  oppressed,  and  to  demand,  in  the  name  of 
justice  and  of  God,  that  this  wrong  shall  cease 
from  among  us.  This  spirit  exists,  not  at  the 
South  alone,  but  also,  in  no  measurable  degree, 
at  the  North ;  here,  by  our  firesides  and  in  our 
churches. 

Let  a  Torry,  at  whose  heart  the  story  of  the 
negro's  wrongs  lies  heavy,  go  among  those  who 
devour  all  the  dear  rights  of  the  inner  and  outer 
man,  —  the  free  spirit,  and  the  lifelong  powers  of 
bodily  endurance,  —  and  they  say  to  him,  "  I 
will  devour  thee,  with  my  chain,  and  my  dun- 
geon, and  my  whips !  I  will  devour  thee  with 
the  rust  of  the  iron  manacle,  with  the  dampness 
of  the  prison-cell,  with  the  tooth  of  long  confine- 


158  OUE  DAT. 

ment !  "  This  they  say  to  him,  and  this  they  do 
to  him.  And  the  sentinels  on  the  watch-towers 
of  liberty  and  of  religion  here  at  the  North  dare 
not,  or  do  not,  open  the  mouth !  Let  a  "Walker, 

—  a  just  man,  fearing  God  and  eschewing  evil, 

—  freight  at  our  free  shores  his  little  bark  with 
poor  slaves,  who  seek  in  the  realm  which  owns 
a  monarch's  hand,  not  the  freedom  they  desire, 
not  the  freedom  which  is  their  just  due,  but  an 
approach  to  it  which  our  free  government  denies 
them,  —  this  insatiable  demon  says  to  him,  "  I 
will  devour  thee  !  "  and  there  is  none  to  help ! 

When  I  think  of  this  vast  and  blood-red 
oppression,  —  of  this  unmitigated  wrong,  —  of 
this  outstretching  and  outswelling  iniquity,  never 
satisfied  with  victims,  —  at  times,  when  the 
thought  is  strong,  "like  a  spell  of  might  cast 
o'er  me  from  above,"  —  when  my  vision  is 
directed  into  the  boundless  deeps  of  this  horrid 
infernum,  and  I  realize  how  little  is  thought 
about  it,  and  how  little  care,  even  by  those  I 
love,  —  I  stand  bewildered  ;  my  brain  whirls ; 
my  heart  throbs,  and  beats  hard  against  its  bar- 
riers, as  it  would  burst ;  I  am  sick  and  dis- 
tressed ;  for  it  seems  as  though  the  word  "  duty," 
in  the  mouth  of  this  American  people,  had  be- 
come unmeaning  ;  and  that  justice,  and  love, 
and  God,  were  only  words  pleasing  to  the  ear, 


A   DEMON   TO   BE    EXORCISED.  159 

with  which  the  people  delight  to  be  lulled  to 
rest. 

But  hope  comes  to  me.  It  tells  me,  that,  notwith- 
standing this  crying  evil,  the  good  is  not  afar  off. 
It  speaks  of  a  fountain,  sealed  to  be  sure,  but 
soon  to  be  opened  by  a  strong  hand,  and  which 
shall  send  forth  waters  for  the  cleansing  of  the 
sanctuary.  It  tells  me,  that  all  among  the  free 
and  beautiful  hills  and  valleys,  the  villages  and 
cities  of  New  England,  there  is  a  spirit,  slumber- 
ing at  this  moment  though  it  may  be,  but  anon 
to  arouse  itself,  and  speak  in  a  voice  which 
oppression  shall  hear,  and  which  millions  of  free 
hearts  shall  respond  to.  God  speed  the  day! 
On  it  the  true  reformer  has  fixed  his  longing 
eye. 


160 


THE  PULPIT  AND  POPULAR  REFORMS. 


BY   REV.   A.   D.   MATO. 


WHAT  is  the  mission  of  the  Christian  pulpit, 
and  what  its  relation  to  the  popular  reforms  of 
the  day  ?  We  shall  attempt  to  give  an  an- 
swer to  these  interesting  questions.  We  shall 
first  define  the  object  of  public  religious  instruc- 
tion ;  then  indicate  the  relation  of  these  reforms 
to  such  object ;  and,  lastly,  speak  of  the  manner 
in  which  the  minister  of  Christ  should  perform 
a  duty  so  important. 

To  understand  the  obligations  of  the  religious 
teacher,  we  must  understand  the  spiritual  condi- 
tion of  humanity.  Man  is  "  born  upright."  It 
is  natural  for  him  to  seek  the  truth,  to  love,  to 
worship.  By  this  we  mean  that  his  nature,  if 
properly  developed,  will  move  in  the  way  to 
perfection.  Greatness  and  goodness  are  the 
health  of  the  soul.  Ignorance  and  sin,  the  dis- 
ease ;  and,  like  all  other  diseases,  unnatural. 

Now  were   each  human  being,  at  his  birth, 


THE  PULPIT  AND  POPULAR  REFORMS.   161 

placed  in  a  condition  of  society  where  every 
faculty  could  receive  its  proper  development,  the 
progress  in  truth  and  holiness  would  be  uninter- 
rupted. Reverence  for  parents  would  insensibly 
become  reverence  for  the  Deity.  The  sponta- 
neous faculty  of  the  soul  would  be  occupied  in 
receiving  truth  imparted  by  God :  directly,  as  in 
moral  intuition  and  conscience ;  or  indirectly, 
through  the  agency  of  natural  objects.  The 
intellect,  like  an  interpreter  between  the  infinite 
and  the  finite,  would  explain  the  facts  of  con- 
sciousness. The  body  would  be  a  "  temple  for 
the  Holy  Spirit."  Man  would  live  in  harmony 
with  himself  and  his  Maker. 

But  such  is  not  the  good  fortune  of  any  man. 
Every  individual,  upon  his  entrance  into  life, 
encounters  many  obstacles  to  perfect  develop- 
ment. Even  while  an  infant,  in  the  nurse's 
arms,  the  work  of  distortion  begins.  His  phy- 
sical constitution  is  outraged,  and  his  temper 
soured  by  injudicious  management.  Through 
the  successive  years  of  youth,  the  same  destruc- 
tive process  continues.  His  lungs  are  irritated 
by  improper  ventilation ;  his  spine  bent  upon  the 
form  in  the  school-room ;  his  stomach  crammed 
with  indigestible  food,  and  disordered  by  heating 
and  stimulating  drinks.  His  mind  is  permitted 
to  dissipate  its  energies,  or  so  burdened  with 


162  OUR   DAT. 

unsuited  knowledge  that  its  freshness  is  de- 
stroyed. His  affections  are  tainted  by  corrupt 
intercourse,  or  laced  about  with  creeds  and  a 
formal  religion.  His  gushing  fountains  of  social 
feeling  are  sealed  up  by  the  absurd  customs  of 
fashionable  life.  Thus  he  lives,  until  the  "  law 
of  the  land  "  pronounces  him  a  man ! 

Now  his  "education"  is  completed.  He  is 
turned  loose  into  the  world,  to  encounter  the 
awful  mystery  of  life !  With  a  body  on  fire 
with  disease ;  a  mind,  in  which,  at  best,  one 
faculty  thrives  upon  the  ruin  of  others,  as  the 
deadly  upas  grows  encircled  with  death  ;  a  moral 
constitution  wild  as  the  instinct  of  a  tiger,  or 
morbidly  sensitive  beneath  the  influence  of  a 
false  religion;  he  is  compelled  before  heaven 
and  earth  to  become  an  individual !  His  na- 
ture lies  in  ruins,  from  which  he  must  build  a 
temple  to  the  living  God  ! 

It  is  the  noble  mission  of  the  minister  of 
Jesus  Christ  to  aid  men  in  building  this  temple. 
He  lives  in  a  community  where  there  is  no 
complete  man.  All  are,  in  one  or  the  other 
way,  distorted  :  some  so  hopelessly  gone,  that 
they  know  not  their  own  condition ;  others,  at 
times  impressed  with  the  mournful  fact  of  their 
imperfection,  yet  so  crushed  by  circumstances 
that  the  will  sinks  at  the  thought  of  the  Hercu- 


THE  PULPIT  AND  POPULAR  BEFOBMS.   163 

lean  labor  of  renovation ;  others,  who  are 
cheerfully  moving  onward  in  the  upward  path 
of  spiritual  excellence.  All  these  he,  an  imper- 
fect specimen  of  humanity,  must  assist.  To  the 
slumbering  spirit  he  must  speak  in  tones  so 
piercing,  that  it  shall  awaken  and  know  its  awful 
condition.  To  the  soul  longing  for  strength,  to 
overleap  the  barriers  that  rise  around  it,  his 
instruction  must  be  full  of  heavenly  encourage- 
ment. His  words  must  thrill,  like  bursts  of 
martial  music ;  that  the  drooping  courage  may 
be  awakened,  and  the  yielding  strength  renewed. 
He  must  paint  the  glorious  picture  of  a  true 
manhood  ;  with  its  radiant  mountain-tops,  and 
its  yawning  gulfs  and  black  torrents  below  !  To 
him  who  has  overcome  the  earliest  obstacles,  he 
must  speak  of  spiritual  culture,  —  of  harmony 
and  proportion  in  character.  He  must  encou- 
rage men  to  lay  the  foundation  of  their  education 
broad  and  deep,  —  to  study  for  eternity.  Every 
soul  has  one  peculiar  faculty,  or  a  certain  combi- 
nation of  faculties,  constituting  its  individuality. 
This,  of  course,  should  lead,  but  not  to  the 
destruction  of  other  powers.  It  should  advance, 
like  a  commander  at  the  head  of  an  army,  not 
stand  like  a  statue  in  a  desert ! 

Such  are  the  results  to  be  sought  by  the  min- 
ister of  Jesus  Christ :  spiritual  regeneration  and 


164  OUR   DAT. 

spiritual  culture ;  repentance  and  life !  the  pro- 
duction of  a  true  manhood  in  every  being  within 
the  sphere  of  his  influence.  To  aid  him,  God 
has  sent  upon  earth  a  perfect  man,  and  a  perfect 
method  of  religious  duty.  This  is  the  fountain 
from  which  he  must  refresh  his  own  weakness, 
and  to  which  direct  the  people  of  his  charge. 
His  field  of  labor  is  the  soul.  He  is  interested 
in  every  thing  that  influences  humanity.  What- 
ever will  awaken,  encourage,  and  develope,  must 
he  notice  to  approve.  Whatever  will  stupify, 
discourage,  and  distort,  must  he  condemn. 

The  only  question,  therefore,  to  be  asked,  in 
relation  to  these  sins  which  are  the  occasion  of 
reform  organization,  is,  are  they  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  spiritual  regeneration  and  spiritual  cul- 
ture ? 

Let  them  pass  in  review  before  us.  First 
appears  Intemperance,  followed  by  the  ghastly 
crew  of  its  worshippers.  Its  works  we  behold 
in  widow's  tears  and  orphan's  cries  ;  in  shattered 
minds  and  wasted  features ;  in  crime,  disease, 
and  death!  Then  comes  Slavery,  dragging  its 
chained  suppliants  ;  bearing  aloft  its  statute- 
books,  red  with  bloody  decrees ;  trampling  under 
its  feet  a  free  constitution,  and  the  petitions  of 
sovereign  states ;  crying  aloud  for  more  territory, 
and  unloosing  "  the  dogs  of  war."  Around  press 


THE  PULPIT  AND  POPULAB  REFORMS.   165 

the  duellist,  the  debauchee,  and  the  assassin ;  the 
priest  blasphemously  preaching  servitude  from 
God's  word  ;  the  time-serving  politician,  the 
citizen,  with  a  muzzle  tied  upon  his  mouth. 
War  strides  on  a  Colossus,  wrapped  in  robes 
dyed  with  the  blood  of  nations.  The  hounds  of 
pestilence,  famine,  fire,  and  slaughter,  are  baying 
at  its  heels.  It  cannot  pause ;  for  yonder  flutter 
the  "stars  and  stripes,"  and  Satan  has  more 
work  to  be  done  in  Mexico !  Then  comes  a  throng 
"  that  no  man  can  number ; "  forms  of  human 
suffering,  the  ignorant,  the  sinful.  And  yonder 
behold  a  procession,  bearing  aloft  the  black  gal- 
lows. Holy  men  of  God  form  a  rampart  around 
it,  and  prayers  ascend  for  its  victims.  What 
crying  abominations  before  heaven  are  these  ? 
None  other  than  the  powers  of  the  evil  one 
himself! 

Now  shall  we  insult  readers,  by  asking  if  such 
evils  are  obstacles  in  the  way  of  Christianity? 
Who  will  affirm  that  the  man  cast  in  the  slough 
of  drunkenness  is  in  a  condition  for  spiritual 
influences  ?  Is  he,  who  lives  upon  the  blood  and 
sweat  of  a  hundred  negroes,  prepared  to  receive 
truths  of  God's  paternity  and  the  brotherhood  of 
man?  Is  a  nation,  insane  for  conquest,  in  a 
situation  to  understand  the  gospel  of  peace? 
Will  not  Paine  and  Voltaire  have  the  argument, 


166  OUR   DAY. 

while  ministers  prove  capital  p.unishment  from 
the  Bible?  "Will  you  preach  of  the  uses  of 
affliction  to  men  without  clothes,  and  houses, 
and  food  ?  We  should  flee  from  before  the  face 
of  a  man,  who  would  answer  questions  like  these 
in  the  affirmative. 

These  evils,  then,  are  terrible  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  spiritual  regeneration  and  culture.  Then 
should  the  public  servant  of  God,  above  all  men, 
on  proper  times,  and  in  a  proper  manner,  expose 
their  enormity.  Before  he  can  rear  the  temple 
of  religion,  he  must  wield  the  sledge,  the  pick, 
and  the  crow-bar,  to  clear  the  land  for  a  founda- 
tion! 

But  we  are  told,  "  These  sins,  of  which  you 
speak,  are  separate  forms  of  transgression.  The 
minister  should  labor  to  create  the  religious  prin- 
ciple which  will  expel  all  sin." 

We  do  not  say  if  intemperance,  slavery,  war, 
inhuman  legislation,  and  bodily  want,  were  abol- 
ished, men  would  necessarily  become  Christians. 
Freedom  from  bad  habits  is  not  religion ;  yet, 
while  such  habits  enslave  the  soul,  it  cannot 
begin  the  spiritual  life.  Before  I  can  teach  my 
neighbor  Christianity,  I  must  make  him  sober,  or 
break  the  chains  of  whatever  evil  practice  would 
indispose  him  to  receive  it.  We  acknowledge 
that  reform  preaching  is  only  a  portion  —  it 


THE  PULPIT  AND  POPULAR  REFORMS.   167 

may  be  a  small  portion  —  of  the  obligation  rest- 
ing on  the  pulpit  I  do  no  good  by  caring  a 
man  of  one  bad  habit,  unless  I  continue  the 
work ;  for  if  I  leave  the  devil  in  him,  it  will 
break  out  in  some  other  form.  But  we  do  not 
intend  to  stop  here.  We  preach  against  public 
sins,  to  remove  obstacles  in  the  way  of  a  more 
spiritual  ministration.  My  neighbor  is  in  feeble 
health.  He  needs  vigorous  exercise  to  restore 
him.  But,  unfortunately,  he  has  broken  his  leg. 
What  shall  I  do  ?  Still  insist  that  he  shall 
exercise,  while  he  cannot  stir  from  his  chair? 
He  says :  "  Cure  my  leg,  and  I  will  obey  your 
directions."  I  say :  "  No,  my  dear  sir.  I  am 
concerned  for  your  general  health.  What  good 
will  a  sound  leg  do  you,  if  your  whole  body  is 
diseased  ?  Therefore  exercise,  my  friend ;  exer- 
cise." Could  any  thing  be  more  senseless  ?  Yet 
we  tell  men  that  spiritual  culture  is  what  they 
need,  while  they  are  slaves  to  appetites  which 
are  destroying  health,  character,  and  reason! 
Is  not  all  this  mockery  ?  Cure  the  man  of  his 
bad  habit,  put  a  coat  on  his  back,  and  give  him 
food  and  work;  and  then  you  have  a  right  to 
preach  to  him  of  spiritual  regeneration  and 
culture ! 

The  important  question  remains,  —  In  what 
manner  shall  the  minister  of  Christ  engage  ia 


168  OUR  DAY. 

these  reforms  ?    As  a  partisan  of  some  organized 
body,  or  from  his  own  individualism  ? 

"We  unhesitatingly  declare  for  the  latter  me- 
thod. "We  know  many  good  men  think  differ- 
ently. We  have  seen  the  good  that  has  resulted 
from  organized  effort,  but  we  are  not  ignorant  of 
the  dangers  besetting  it  On  every  side  we  see 
men  losing  their  individuality,  and  becoming 
wheels  in  some  great  machine  of  reform.  These 
vast  associations  sadly  take  away  our  freedom. 
"We  live  too  much  by  favor  of  "  executive  com- 
mittees." Societies  usurp  the  throne  of  Provi- 
dence, and  decide  when  we  shall  work.  We  are 
too  dependent  upon  the  good  will  of  unscrupulous 
parties.  They  can  make  presidents  of  small 
lawyers,  and  blacken  the  reputation  of  great 
statesmen.  We  believe  it  not  well,  that  the 
minister  of  Christ's  free  gospel  should  subject 
himself  to  such  conditions.  Let  him  not  be  a 
piece  of  a  society,  but  a  man.  In  religious 
belief  let  him  spurn  sectarian  limits,  and  pro- 
claim the  truth  his  Maker  gives  him.  In  politics 
let  him,  from  a  lofty  position,  view  the  policy  of 
statesmen,  and  vote  "  with  the  fear  of  God 
before  his  eyes."  In  reform  let  him  speak 
according  to  the  wants  of  the  community  around 
him,  with  a  fearless  tongue  and  a  loving  heart. 
Let  him  avoid  vulgar  personalities,  and  look 


THE  PULPIT  AND  POPULAR  REFORMS.   169 

with  divine  compassion  even  upon  the  obstinacy 
of  wicked  men.  Let  him  come  to  every  subject 
from  the  high  ground  of  Christian  meditation, 
as  fearless  of  the  cant  of  the  friends  of  reform 
as  the  insults  of  its  enemies.  And,  above  all, 
let  him  speak  in  love.  If  called  to  rebuke,  let 
him  rebuke  in  the  spirit  of  Jesus,  "  more  in 
sorrow  than  in  anger."  And  when,  by  the 
blessing  of  God,  he  has  reformed  a  man,  let  him 
not  desist  until  the  vacant  mind  is  stored  with 
noble  thoughts,  and  the  languid  heart  refreshed 
by  lofty  purposes ;  that  the  repenting  one  may 
be  led  on  in  the  way  to  heaven  ! 

Such  is  our  opinion  of  the  duties  of  the 
pulpit.  We  know  it  is  not  the  popular  view. 
The  extreme  license  of  the  desk  in  former  times 
has  given  place  to  a  contracted  circle  of  subjects. 
It  is  true,  permission  is  given  the  clergy,  on 
certain  occasions,  to  speak  freely.  They  are 
expected,  on  "  Fast  Day,"  to  predict  the  coming 
of  plagues,  pestilences,  and  all  inflictions  of 
heaven  upon  our  godless  nation  ;  while,  on 
"  Thanksgiving  Day,"  they  announce  the  arrival 
of  the  millennium,  and  the  glories  of  the  time 
when  the  United  States  of  America  shall  become 
the  Mount  Zion  of  the  earth.  We  decline  this 
benevolent  gift.  If  destruction  is  about  to  fall 
upon  the  land,  it  is  hard  that  the  clergyman 
11 


170  OUR    DAY. 

should  wait  until  "  Fast  Day "  to  blow  his 
trumpet  of  alarm.  And  we  are  not  very  solicit- 
ous of  the  privilege  to  speak  upon  the  rise  and 
fall  of  kingdoms  on  "  Thanksgiving  Day,"  to  a 
few  men  and  children,  whose  thoughts  are  in 
their  kitchens  at  home.  We  object  to  a  ministry 
shut  up  in  a  pen  of  conventionalism  fifty-two 
days  in  the  year,  while  upon  two  days  the  gates 
are  unbarred ;  and  the  terror-stricken  men,  hav- 
ing cautiously  delivered  themselves  of  a  few 
moral  and  political  axioms,  gladly  retreat  to  the 
sacred  protection  of  the  Sabbath  and  the  sanc- 
tuary !  If  the  pulpit  be  not  free,  it  is  a  nuisance 
upon  the  earth !  Whenever  the  great  interests 
of  God's  kingdom  are  insulted  by  men  in  high 
places ;  when  public  immorality  or  political  dege- 
neracy are  sweeping  over  the  land ;  the  minister 
of  Christ  is  recreant  to  his  duty  if  he  do  not 
speak,  not  only  in  a  timid  voice  on  "  governors' 
sabbaths,"  but  freely,  and  with  the  power  his 
Creator  has  given  him,  on  God's  Sabbaths! 
Thus  will  he  be  a  follower  of  him  who  uttered 
his  word  of  truth,  and  died  that  all  men  might 
enjoy  the  "  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God." 


171 


THOMAS  CLARKSON. 

have  in  Thomas  Clarkson  one  of  the 
great  moral  heroes  of  the  day  in  which  we  live. 
Though,  after  a  long  life,  he  has  just  gone  from 
us,  his  character  and  influence  are  of  the  present, 
and  will  tell,  for  ages,  on  the  destiny  of  man. 

Mr.  Clarkson  was  born  March  28, 1760.  His 
father  held  the  situation  of  master  of  the  Wis- 
beach  Free  Grammar  School,  where  the  son  was 
at  first  educated,  until  removed  to  St  Paul's 
school,  and  subsequently  to  St.  John's  College, 
Cambridge.  Here  young  Clarkson  soon  acquired 
distinction.  Previous  circumstances  seemed  to 
have  been  prepared  to  call  forth  the  spirit  that 
was  in  him,  to  vindicate  the  great  doctrine  of 
human  rights.  It  was  in  1785,  while  Clarkson 
was  at  the  University,  that  Dr.  Peckhard,  being 
then  Vice-Chancellor,  announced  to  the  Senior 
Bachelors  of  Arts,  this  question,  as  a  subject  for 
a  Prize  Latin  Dissertation :  —  "Is  it  right  to 


172  OUR   DAT. 

make  slaves  of  others,  against  their  will  ?  "  Our 
young  scholar  had  already  gained  one  prize  in 
dissertation  here,  and  was  desirous  to  sustain  his 
reputation.  With  this  intent,  he  repaired  to 
London,  and  there  obtained,  according  to  his 
pecuniary  means,  many  books  on  the  subject  of 
slavery.  He  returned  to  the  University,  and 
began  the  work  of  his  essay.  It  was  by  means 
of  this  intellectual  effort  that  the  fountains  of  the 
great  deep  of  his  moral  affections  were  reached, 
and  made  to  issue  forth  in  behalf  of  the  bond- 
man. Pained  with  the  harrowing  truth  which 
the  perusal  of  these  volumes  unfolded,  he  ceased 
to  regard  his  immediate  pursuit  as  the  work  of  a 
scholar.  The  philanthropist  had  been  aroused. 
He  sees  the  need  of  a  life  devoted  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  slave,  and  to  the  utterance  and  appli- 
cation of  freedom  under  the  government  of  which 
he  was  a  subject,  and  everywhere  throughout 
the  world.  "With  such  conviction  urging  him,  it 
is  no  wonder  that  his  essay  was  successful.  It 
was  clothed  with  a  power  that  went  far  beyond 
the  mere  occasion  of  its  first  public  reading.  It 
spoke  to  other  minds  as  the  facts  which  called  it 
out  had  spoken  to  the  mind  of  its  author. 

It  was  from  this  period  that  Mr.  Clarkson 
became  devoted  to  the  great  cause  of  human 
emancipation.  His  Prize  Essay  he  now  issued 


THOMAS    CLABKSON.  173 

in  tract  form.  It  went  abroad  wherever  the 
new  reading  matter  of  the  English  press  found 
welcome.  It  reached  America ;  and  first  in  this 
land  identified  the  name  of  Clarkson  with  that  of 
the  African  and  of  freedom. 

The  influence  of  his  character  was  now  felt  at 
home  and  abroad.  Some  of  the  best  hearts  in 
England  were  in  sympathy  with  him.  Yet  he 
was  very  far  from  a  position  with  the  majority. 
The  everlasting  Right  stood  with  him,  but  not 
the  influence  of  the  greatest  number.  This  was 
yet  away  in  the  future.  A  good  co-worker  gave 
him  the  heart  and  hand  of  friendship  ;  the  noble, 
toiling,  philanthropic  Wilberforce.  Together, 
they  drew  other  kindred  souls  into  this  royal 
work.  Wilberforce  was  to  bring  the  subject 
into  Parliament;  Clarkson  was  to  turn  public 
agitator  without.  He  did  so.  In  the  principal 
towns  and  cities  of  England  were  his  labors  of 
truth  known.  Meetings  were  held,  evidences 
collected,  books  published,  petitions  forwarded  to 
Parliament.  Wilberforce  made  the  movement 
here  —  began  the  debate,  and  stirred  up  the  fires 
of  eloquence  on  his  great  theme.  But  for  a 
time  he  stood  in  that  Parliament  almost  alone. 
Neither  Pitt  nor  Fox  could  come  to  his  aid,  so 
formidably  were  the  interests  of  the  vast  slave- 
trade  capital  of  British  merchants  standing  in 


174  OUR  DAY. 

the  way.  It  was  a  massive  stone  under  which 
this  same  Wilberforce  had  placed  his  lever.  It 
was  heavy  with  gold ! 

Yet  it  was  destined  to  be  moved  when  God's 
time  came.  Within  and  without  Parliament,  the 
agitation  of  the  subject  increased.  Statesmen, 
who  had  been  timid  on  it,  gained  courage.  The 
illustrious  Pitt  himself  set  in  operation  its  dis- 
cussion, though  at  first  venturing  not  his  whole 
soul  in  it.  Through  all  these  proceedings,  which 
were  going  on  for  years,  the  labors  of  Mr.  Clark- 
son  were  inconceivably  great.  To  give  an  in- 
stance in  illustration  of  this  statement,  I  refer  to 
the  testimony  of  Robinson  Taylor,  who  has  re- 
cently written  of  him.  It  is  as  follows :  — 

"In  the  early  period  of  the  struggle,  it  was 
necessary  to  lay  evidence  before  the  privy  coun- 
cil, to  prove  the  allegation  that  the  unhappy 
Africans  were  kidnapped  and  dragged  from  their 
homes.  The  procuring  of  such  evidence  was 
attended  with  the  greatest  difficulties,  as  the 
small  vessels  which  conveyed  the  negroes  to 
the  slave-ships  were  manned  entirely  by  natives  ; 
Europeans  being  very  rarely  permitted  to  be  on 
board,  that  the  nature  of  the  horrible  traffic 
might  be  the  better  concealed  from  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  civilized  world.  Clarkson,  nothing 
daunted,  but  his  courage  mounting  with  every  in- 


THOMAS    CLARKSON.  175 

creasing  difficulty,  made  a  tour  in  the  provinces. 
All  the  information  he  could  procure  was,  that  a 
gentleman,  a  year  before,  had  conversed  at  an 
inn  with  an  English  sailor  who  had  been  up  the 
African  rivers,  and  who,  it  was  conceived,  would 
be  fully  competent  to  give  evidence,  providing 
he  could  be  found.  Nothing  was  known  of  the 
man's  ( where-about ; '  Clarkson  was  ignorant 
even  of  his  name ;  all  the  information  he  pos- 
sessed for  his  guidance  was  merely  a  personal 
description  of  the  sailor.  Conceiving  that  he 
might  be  found  on  board  some  British  ships, 
Clarkson,  with  the  permission  of  Sir  Charles 
Middleton,  Comptroller  of  the  Navy,  boarded,  in 
succession,  all  the  men-of-war  at  Deptford,  Wool- 
wich, Chatham,  Sheerness,  and  Portsmouth  ;  but 
the  sailor  still  remained  undiscovered.  To  use 
Clarkson's  own  words,  'Matters  began  to  look 
disheartening.  There  was  but  one  port  left, 
Plymouth,  and  that  was  distant  more  than  two 
hundred  miles  ;  but  thither  I  was  determined  to 
go.  The  first  day  after  my  arrival,  I  boarded 
forty  ships  ;  but  found  no  one  who  had  been  on 
the  coast  of  Africa,  or  even  in  the  slave-trade. 
Things  were  now  drawing  to  a  close ;  my  spirits 
began  to  droop,  and  I  was  restless  and  uneasy 
during  the  night.  I  entered  my  boat  the  next 
morning,  agitated  alternately  by  hope  and  fear. 


OUR   DAT. 

The  fifty-seventh  vessel  I  boarded  in  this  harbor 
was  the  '  Melampus '  frigate.  On  examining  the 
men,  I  found  a  sailor  who  had  been  two  voyages 
to  Africa  ;  and,  to  my  inexpressible  joy,  I  soon 
perceived  that  he  was  the  person  to  whom  I  had 
been  referred.  I  found,  too,  that  he  had  been 
present  on  several  occasions  when  the  natives 
had  been  forcibly  torn  from  their  homes,  and 
that  he  was  able  and  willing  to  give  evidence.' 
Such  was  the  energy  with  which  Clarkson  tri- 
umphed over  his  difficulties.  The  important 
link  in  the  chain  of  evidence  being  furnished, 
another  rivet  was  knocked  from  the  manacles  of 
the  bleeding  and  exhausted  slave. 

"  These  were  the  sort  of  labors  which  demon- 
strated the  character  of  the  man,  and  which  con- 
tributed to  form  the  halo  of  glory  that  encircles 
his  name." 

The  new  century  commenced,  and  still  the 
slave-trade  continued  to  disgrace  the  British 
government  and  the  world.  The  union  with 
Ireland,  in  1801,  brought  into  Parliament  rep- 
resentatives who  were  ready  to  take  part  on  the 
right  side  of  this  subject.  A  measure  for  sup- 
pressing the  trade  passed  both  houses,  though 
the  measure  did  not  become  a  law  until  1807. 
The  history  of  this  long  and  eventful  struggle  was 
prepared  and  published  by  Mr.  Clarkson  himself. 


THOMAS    CLARKSON.  177 

Though  now  called  upon  to  change  the  nature 
of  his  labors,  Mr.  Clarkson  was  not,  in  conse- 
quence of  this  final  triumph  of  his  much-loved 
measure,  induced  to  release  himself  from  the 
great  work  of  philanthropy.  He  still  used  his 
tongue  and  pen  in  behalf  of  human  rights. 
During  the  French  revolution,  he  went  to  Paris, 
with  the  intention  of  interesting  the  French  gov- 
ernment in  the  subject  so  near  his  heart;  but 
was  unsuccessful.  He  went  also  to  the  Congress 
of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  there  had  an  interview 
with  the  emperor  of  Russia,  who  promised  not 
only  to  oppose  the  slave-trade  by  the  exercise  of 
his  own  authority,  but  to  use  his  influence  with 
other  sovereigns,  that  they  might  be  induced  to 
do  likewise. 

Years  rolled  on;  and  this  great  anti-slavery 
movement  continued  to  be  felt  everywhere.  In 
England  this  law  of  1807  had  prepared  the 
minds  of  Englishmen  for  wider  conceptions  and 
more  decisive  measures  against  slavery.  An 
association  of  the  people  was  formally  entered 
into  in  1823,  the  primary  object  of  which  was 
to  effect  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  British 
"West  Indies.  Of  this  association  Mr.  Clarkson 
was  a  true  and  zealous  conductor.  Age  had  not 
cooled  his  ardor ;  and  although  it  brought  upon 
him  the  affliction  of  a  temporary  blindness,  it  by 


178  OUR   DAY. 

no  means  obscured  the  vision  within.  That  saw 
plainly  by  faith  the  night  of  oppression  broken, 
and  sure  glimmerings  of  a  better  morning  for  the 
enslaved  and  abused  of  our  race.  He  was  in  his 
seventy-fourth  year  when  the  bill  awarding 
twenty  million  pounds  sterling  as  compensation 
to  the  slaveholders,  passed  both  houses  of  Par- 
liament ;  —  an  event  never  to  be  forgotten  while 
England's  or  man's  history  can  be  read  in  our 
world. 

And  so  to  the  end  of  his  long  life  was  this 
good  man  a  diligent  laborer.  His  "  Portraiture 
of  Quakerism,"  his  "  Life  of  William  Penn,"  his 
"  Researches  Antediluvian,  Patriarchal,  and  His- 
torical," together  with  his  volumes  of  the  history 
of  his  earlier  life,  already  mentioned,  abundantly 
prove  this.  He  could  not  be  idle.  His  "one 
idea"  did  not  narrow,  but  expand,  his  soul. 
Says  a  writer  in  the  London  Nonconformist :  — 
"Although  the  accumulated  weight  of  upwards 
of  fourscore  years  pressed  heavily  upon  his  shat- 
tered energies,  so  long  as  life  and  being  lasted, 
his  great  anxiety  was  to  do  good.  It  was  indeed 
a  noble  sight  to  enter  his  apartment,  and  see  this 
venerable  man,  with  sight  impaired,  and  his  once 
fine  frame  bowed  down  by  the  exertions  of  added 
years,  still  engaged,  under  much  physical  suffer- 
ing, in  efforts  to  lessen  the  sorrows  of  the  human 


THOMAS    CLARKSON.  179 

race.  Within  the  last  few  months  of  his  death, 
the  case  of  the  sailor  occupied  much  of  his  atten- 
tion. The  wrongs  under  which  this  useful  class 
of  men  is  suffering,  deeply  moved  his  heart,  and 
induced  him  to  write  a  pamphlet,  and  to  take 
other  steps  in  their  behalf." 

Mr.  Clarkson  departed  this  life  on  the  26th  of 
September,  1846,  in  the  eighty-seventh  year 
of  his  age.  His  memory  will  be  held  sacred 
where  he  was  most  known  in  private  life,  as  the 
companion,  citizen,  counsellor,  and  friend.  The 
inhabitants  of  Wisbeach,  his  native  place,  sub- 
scribed for  his  portrait,  to  be  preserved  in  their 
town,  as  a  memorial  of  their  esteem  for  so  dis- 
tinguished a  fellow-citizen.  And  abroad  his 
inner  likeness  maketh  many  a  manifestation  to 
anxious  eyes  and  throbbing  hearts.  Multitudes 
who  may  never  catch  the  expression  of  that  out- 
ward countenance,  shall  bless  the  name  of  Clark- 
son,  and  bless  God,  too,  that  they  are  familiar 
with  the  man.  His  fame  is  world-wide,  and 
shall  never  wax  dim.  It  shall  live  in  the 
graphic  speech  of  the  matchless  Brougham ;  in 
the  smooth  and  strong  verse  of  the  poet-laureate 
of  England ;  in  the  words  he  himself  uttered, 
never  to  die  away  ;  and  yet  surer  still,  identified 
with  this  great  movement,  progress,  accomplish- 
ment, and  ultimate  triumph  of  freedom  —  in 


180  OUR   DAT. 

behalf  of  which  the  hosts  of  the  truly  good  and 
philanthropic  of  every  civilized  nation  are  fast 
mustering ;  and  whose  power  shall,  as  heaven 
itself  is  true,  prevail. 

We  need  not  dwell  longer  on  the  details  of 
the  life  of  this  illustrious  man.  Rather  let  us 
ask  what  his  history  is  teaching  us.  And  first, 
let  us  look  at  his  adherence  to  principle  in  the 
face  of  the  prejudice  and  opposition  of  the  world. 
Here  is  a  lesson  worth  learning  at  any  hour  of 
our  lives ;  and  one,  too,  which  we  need  to  have 
often  brought  before  us,  while  we  are  so  liable  to 
receive  our  impressions  of  truth  and  right  from 
the  prevailing  opinion,  instead  of  seeking  them 
through  the  means  of  a  true  conscience  and  a 
free  investigation.  Men  too  often  inquire,  before 
they  act  in  reference  to  their  social,  political,  or 
religious  duties,  what  will  be  most  safe  for  them 
in  the  judgment  of  their  fellow-men ;  what  the 
world  will  say ;  what  this  now-prevailing  opin- 
ion—  however  erroneous  or  corrupt  this  opinion 
—  will  decide.  No  higher  than  this  do  they 
allow  themselves  to  look  for  their  duty.  If  their 
social  code,  or  political  pamphlet  or  newspaper, 
or  their  religious  creed,  shall  read  them  a  differ- 
ent lesson,  then  are  they  disinclined  to  any 
counter  movement.  Conscience  may  sometimes 
speak;  but  the  crowd  will  not  be  permitted  to 


THOMAS    CLAEKSON.  181 

hear  it.  Truth  may  strike  deep  conviction  ;  but 
this  must  be  stifled,  in  base  servitude  to  the  all- 
governing  opinion  of  a  system  or  a  party  ! 

Now,  when  the  world  is  born  and  baptized 
into  any  new  and  great  truth,  it  must  be  through 
the  instrumentality  of  minds  who  are  not  con- 
trolled by  such  considerations  as  we  have  just 
named.  There  must  be  a  leading  influence, 
working  its  way  against  all  this  conservative  and 
threatening  wrong.  We  can  seldom,  if  ever, 
have  any  revolution  of  righteousness  in  the 
world,  without  such  an  influence.  It  may  be 
small,  at  first,  as  the  grain  of  mustard-seed ;  yet 
its  growth  is  sure  as  the  will  or  word  of  Omnipo- 
tence. 

Such  was  Clarkson's  influence,  —  such  his 
example.  It  was  the  small  striving  of  truth 
against  the  combined  force  of  public  opinion. 
Church  and  state  were  silent,  in  reference  to 
this  wrong,  and  seemed  satisfied  with  it.  And 
the  great,  ruling,  monied  interests  of  the  might- 
iest nation  of  the  earth  were  against  it.  What 
could  be  done,  in  opposition  to  such  power  as 
this  by  one  single  man,  or  by  the  few  true  souls 
he  might  call  around  him  ?  What  would  the 
most  prudent  and  unmoving  Conservative  of 
that  day  have  said  to  this  same  question,  were 
he  then  called  upon  to  answer  it  ?  Said  ?  Why, 


182  OUR   DAY. 

that  the  man  was  a  fanatic  —  a  moral  schemer 
—  an  abstractionist !  —  a  good  philanthropist  at 
heart,  perhaps ;  but  then  in  intellect  a  subject 
of  strange  visions  and  dreams !  Why,  what 
avails  such  force  against  all  this  wealth  and 
intellect  of  the  nation?  All  this  subservient 
prejudice  of  the  great  world,  too  ?  Your  preach- 
ing and  appealing  philanthropist  cannot  forward 
his  work.  He  will  fail.  This  old  influence  of 
wealth  and  intellect  will  rule  !  Indeed !  and  so 
it  did  rule  here  —  ruled  its  day  out ;  and  then 
its  power  yielded,  and  was  turned  in  the  right 
direction.  Yes,  some  of  that  twenty  millions 
of  pounds,  paid  for  West  India  Emancipation, 
came  from  this  very  monied  influence  once  in 
array  against  the  prayers  and  petitions  of  Clark- 
son  and  Wilberforce !  "  As  the  rivers  of  water 
are  turned,"  so  was  changed  this  influence,  by 
God's  hand,  from  error  unto  truth  ! 

Adherence  to  principle  !  When,  when  shall 
we  learn  this  great  duty  ?  When  shall  we 
realize  what  wonders  we  shall  accomplish  by  it  ? 
When  shall  we  feel  all  that  is  implied  in  that 
great  word  of  the  apostle,  "  With  me  it  is  a 
very  small  thing  that  I  should  be  judged  of 
man's  judgment."  When  shall  we  begin  to  com- 
prehend what  Christ's  own  declaration  implies, 
"  If  ye  have  faith  like  a  grain  of  mustard-seed, 


THOMAS    CLARKSOX.  183 

ye  shall  say  unto  this  mountain,  Be  thou  cast  into 
the  sea,  and  it  shall  be  done."  Deem  this  not 
a  figure  merely.  It  is  living,  veritable  fact. 
Every  age  lives  it  over  and  over  again.  It  is 
glorious  fact  in  the  instance  of  Clarkson.  And 
never  will  the  great  truth  it  makes  known  deny 
itself.  Courage  to  the  true  and  loving  soul,  in 
all  its  strifes  with  a  grievous,  an  overpowering, 
and  aggravating  wrong !  Judicious,  persevering, 
untiring  labor,  in  God's  name,  shall  effect  its 
overthrow ;  and  a  cheered  and  blest  world  shall 
rejoice  in  the  triumph  of  humanity  and  heaven. 

What  Clarkson  did  we  may  all  do,  each  in 
our  places ;  —  speak  and  act,  never  in  palliation 
of  the  wrong,  but  always  against  it ;  never  with 
the  "  let  it  alone  "  policy  in  our  hearts  or  on  our 
lips,  but  always  with  the  assailant  disposition. 
—  though  in  prayer  to  Heaven  that  what  we  say 
and  do  be  directed  by  its  unerring  wisdom.  A 
wrong,  like  that  which  Clarkson  assailed,  darkens 
our  land;  and  sorry  are  we  that  similar  influ- 
ences are  hi  operation  to  sustain  it,  —  none  of 
them  more  potent  than  this  same  golden  one ! 
But  who  says  now,  that  this  shall  always  tri- 
umph ?  Let  him  read  England's  recent  history 
again.  Let  him  hear  a  public  opinion  echoed 
by  the  well-known  biographer  of  Dr.  Johnson. 


184  OUR  DAY. 

protesting  against  what  this  eminent  scholar  had 
justly  written  of  the  African  slave-trade :  — 

"To  abolish  a  status,  which  in  all  ages  God 
has  sanctioned  and  man  continued,  would  not 
only  be  robbery  to  an  innumerable  class  of  our 
fellow-subjects,  but  it  would  be  extreme  cruelty 
to  African  savages ;  a  portion  of  whom  it  saves 
from  massacre,  or  intolerable  bondage  in  their 
own  country,  and  introduces  into  a  much  happier 
state  of  life ;  especially  now,  when  their  passages 
to  the  West  Indies,  and  their  treatment  there,  is 
humanely  regulated.  To  abolish  that  trade 
would  be  to  shut  the  gates  of  mercy  on  man- 
kind."* 

What  less  than  this  is  said  now,  in  our  own 
land,  where  this  same  evil  is  encouraged  and 
sustained  ?  Yet  who  will  venture  his  reputa- 
tion for  prophecy  on  the  assertion,  that  this 
opinion  will  not  change  ?  Who  in  England  now 
will,  with  unblushing  face,  quote  and  approve 
this  barbarian  language  of  Boswell  ?  Who,  fifty 
years  to  come,  will  say  as  much  in  reference  to 
the  merciful  nature  of  the  institution  of  slavery 
in  our  own  land  ? 

And  what  shall  change  opinion  ?  Ah  !  Is 
this  question  asked  ?  What  is  changing  it  now, 

*  BoswelTs  Life  of  Johnson. 


THOMAS    CLARK  SOX.  185 

every  day  and  every  hour  ?  Individual  convic- 
tion of  truth,  and  individual  manliness  in  uttering 
this  truth.  A  holy  conviction ;  it  is  deeper  down 
than  all  sectarian,  political,  or  religious  profes- 
sions or  combinations.  It  is  God's  voice,  and 
humanity's.  Let  us  repeat  it,  again  and  again. 
Let  us  understand  the  effects  of  our  words  and 
our  deeds.  Small  in  themselves,  they  may  go 
out  in  great  missions  of  blessedness  and  love  for 
mankind.  We  each  owe  a  labor  for  the  purifica- 
tion of  public  opinion.  Let  nothing  we  shall  say 
or  do  tend  to  corrupt  it 

Some  reformers  are  really  individuals  of  "  one 
idea."  They  look  so  long  at  one  object,  that  it 
absorbs  their  whole  mind.  They  see  every 
thing  else  through  its  image.  Such  have  lived 
in  other  days ;  such  live  now.  Such  some- 
times become  bigoted,  even  in  their  philanthropic 
sympathies  and  strivings.  Clarkson  was  not 
one  of  this  number.  His  was  an  enlarged  phil- 
anthropy. Not  the  black  man  only,  but  the 
white  man,  claimed  and  received  his  service  of 
love.  A  righteous  example.  If  we  will  be 
true  reformers  after  the  Christian  model,  no  one 
idea  short  of  this  can  absorb  us,  —  the  all- 
including,  all-directing  Right,  in  reference  to 
every  question  of  human  duty,  ability,  or  des- 
tiny. 

IS 


186  OUR   DAY. 

"  The  light  of  the  righteous  rejoiceth."  Thus 
has  it  been ;  thus  shall  it  be,  henceforth.  Honor 
to  these  champions  of  God's  truth, — these  moral 
sentinels  of  humanity,  —  marking  its  progress, 
and  guarding  its  right ! 

"  They  stand  like  mountains,  when  the  deep-toned  roaring 

Of  warring  elements  is  round  their  breasts ; 
While  on  their  summits  heaven's  rich  light  is  pouring, 

And  silent  Peace  in  radiant  beauty  rests. 
There  the  first  beams  of  new-bom  morning  play  ; 
And  lingers,  with  soft  light,  the  sun's  last  dying  ray !  " 

"We  celebrate  such  heroes  in  grand  oration, 
fervent  sermon,  and  harmonious  song.  Our 
hearts  respond  to  the  demands  of  just  fame, 
with  which  they  come ! 

There  is  a  higher  reverence  we  may  pay 
them ;  a  reverence  which  man  shall  feel,  and 
God  himself  approve.  It  is  that  of  living  as 
they  lived ;  our  whole  being  responsive  to  their 
godlike  virtues,  and  in  readiness  to  imitate  and 
repeat  them.  Be  the  testimony  of  Clarkson 
thus  repeated  by  us  ;  repeated,  too,  in  strong 
hope  and  faith ;  and  with  no  doubt  that,  in  our 
own  land,  —  as  in  every  other  on  which  the  free 
sun  shines,  —  through  the  slow,  yet  irresistible, 
influence  of  correct  individual  opinion,  the  utter- 
ance of  a  regenerated  public  opinion  shall  be  in 
accordance  with  this  truthful  and  stirring  Ian- 


THOMAS    CLARKSON.  187 

guage  of  one  of  the  mightiest  intellects  of  the 
present  age :  — 

"  Tell  me  not  of  rights  ;  talk  not  of  the  pro- 
perty of  the  planter  in  his  slaves.  I  deny  the 
right  ;  I  acknowledge  not  the  property.  The 
principles,  the  feelings,  of  our  common  nature 
rise  in  rebellion  against  it.  Be  the  appeal  made 
to  the  understanding  or  to  the  heart,  the  sen- 
tence is  the  same  that  rejects  it.  In  vain  you 
tell  me  of  laws  that  sanction  such  a  claim  ! 
There  is  a  law  above  all  the  enactments  of 
human  codes,  —  the  same  throughout  the  world, 
the  same  in  all  times,  —  it  is  the  law  written  by 
the  finger  of  God  on  the  heart  of  man  ;  and  by 
that  law,  unchangeable  and  eternal,  while  men 
despise  fraud,  and  loathe  rapine,  and  abhor 
blood,  they  shall  reject  with  indignation  the  wild 
and  guilty  fantasy,  that  man  can  hold  property 
in  man ! " 

*  Lord  Brougham. 


188 


CHRISTIANITY. 

BY  RET.  DAY  K.  LEE. 

THE  GOD  of  CHRISTIANITY  ! 

Oh  !  who  shall  not  adore  him  ? 
His  word  fulfils,  and  demon  ills 

Are  vanishing  before  him. 
Kind  smiles  of  light,  like  morn  on  night, 

Outshine  from  his  pavilion : 
His  voice  "  ARISE,"  thrills  earth  and  skies, 

And  wakes  the  slumbering  million. 
On  all  the  lands  his  altar  stands, 

And  there  the  ransomed  gather ; 
In  grace  and  spirit,  His  sons  inherit, 

He  reigns  and  rules  —  THE  FATHER. 

The  CHRIST  of  CHRISTIANITY  ! 

O  nations  !  all  behold  him  ! 
The  Friend  of  friends,  he  lives,  ascends, 

As  holy  seers  foretold  him. 
His  era  rolls,  and  myriad  souls 

Receive  his  heavenly  story ; 
And  still  he  reigns,  and  still  attains 

New  victory  and  glory. 


CHRISTIANITY.  189 

Like  vernal  blooms,  his  kingdom  comes 

In  waste  and  wintry  regions ; 
And  radiant  faces  of  all  the  races 

Swell  wide  his  adoring  legions. 

The  HOPE  of  CHRISTIANITY  ! 

Is  heaven  her  sole  possession  ? 
Shall  sons  of  time  cease  ne'er  from  crime, 

Nor  put  away  transgression  ? 
Long  not  on  high  her  realms  to  spy, 

Till  given  an  angel's  pinion ! 
Her  gardens  grow,  blest  grace !  below : 

The  WORLD  is  her  dominion ! 
She  sings  of  hours,  when  Eden-bowers 

Shall  crown  all  earth's  plantations ; 
And  Eden-joys,  without  alloys, 

Beatify  the  nations. 

The  DAT  of  CHRISTIANITY  ! 

How  jubilant  its  warning ! 
How  grand  its  dawn,  now  leading  on 

The  rosy-footed  morning ! 
Fell  Falses  gray  shall  melt  away, 

Like  mist-forms,  in  its  rising ; 
Nor  Wrong  nor  Woe  the  wide  world  know, 

In  all  the  scene  surprising. 
New  earth  and  heaven  shall  then  be  given. 

As  hailed  by  saints  and  sages ; 
And  LOVE  shall  lighten,  and  Wisdom  brighten, 

The  Sabbath  of  the  ages. 


190  OUR  DAT. 

The  WORK  of  CHRISTIANITY! 

Are  all  its  acts  a  fable  ? 
To  do  thy  Word,  thy  Will,  O  Lord, 

Shall  men  build  towers  of  Babel  ? 
No !  they  who  TOIL  on  LOVE'S  broad  soil 

Are  the  commandment-keepers. 
Go  forth,  all  hands  !     God's  fallow  lands 

Want  ploughmen,  seedmen,  reapers ! 
Plough  deep  and  long ;  uproot  old  Wrong ; 

Turn  sins,  turn  slaveries  under : 
Sow  Wisdom,  Lowliness,  Freedom,  Holiness : 

And  reap  in  joy  and  wonder ! 

The  PEATER  of  CHRISTIANITY  ! 

Breathe  they,  O  Lord,  its  burden, 
Who  fleece  thy  fold,  then  basely  bold 

Demand  thy  daily  pardon  ? 
No !  no !  its  fires  wing  warm  desires, 

And  kindle  high  convictions ; 
Its  sweet  voice  pleads  in  manly  deeds, 

And  breathes  kind  benedictions  ! 
It  cries :  "  Thy  Will,  O  God,  fulfil ! 

Send  smiles  ;  send  consolations  ! " 
And  last  petitions,  "  Move  on  the  missions 

Of  loving  liberators  !  " 


191 


RESPONSIBILITY  OP  THE  TRAFFIC  IN 
SPIRITS. 

EXTRACT  FROM  A  TEMPERANCE  ADDRESS. 

BT  H.  BALLOU.  2s,  D.D. 

IT  has  long  appeared  to  me,  that  some  of  the 
essential  elements  in  this  question  concerning 
the  traffic  in  spirits  are  not  usually  taken  into 
the  account.  I  hope  you  will  bear  with  a  few 
suggestions  that  I  think  important  to  right  action 
in  the  premises. 

People  in  general  seem  to  regard  it  as  a  per- 
fectly simple  question,  so  far,  at  least,  as  the 
moral  responsibilities  of  the  business  are  con- 
cerned. They  say  to  themselves,  "There,  on 
that  hand,  are  those  who  are  engaged  in  the 
sale,  together  with  those  who  advocate  and  de- 
fend it ;  and  here,  on  this  hand,  are  those  who 
oppose  it :  these  two  parties,  and  no  more ; 
wholly  distinct  from  each  other  in  the  matter." 
It  is  taken  for  granted  that  those  of  one  party 


192  OUR   DAT. 

are  the  authors  of  all  this  mischief ;  that  they 
obtruded  it  upon  the  public,  and  forced  it  into 
circulation ;  that  they  alone  are  responsible  for 
it ;  and  that  they  ought  to  be  treated  accord- 
ingly, by  being  made  to  suffer  all  the  penalty  of 
it,  as  other  offenders  against  the  public  are  made 
to  suffer.  A  very  simple  case,  indeed !  Only 
two  sides  to  it:  there,  the  guilty;  here,  the 
innocent. 

But,  my  friends,  that  is  not  the  state  of  the 
case.  If  you  set  out  with  that  view  of  it,  you 
make  your  calculations  on  a  false  plan,  and  it 
will  lead  you  wrong.  You  will  become  entan- 
gled before  you  get  through,  and  perhaps  fail,  as 
many  have  already  found  on  trial.  There  are 
some  very  material  things  in  the  case,  which  you 
have  left  out ;  and  the  sum  will  not  work  right 
if  you  set  it  down  so. 

Look  back,  now,  into  the  history  of  the  matter, 
and  recollect  how  this  traffic  grew  up  to  its 
present  formidable  strength.  It  was  the  com- 
munity that  first  called  for  the  sale  of  spirits,  and 
for  the  taverns  and  stores  where  it  is  carried  on ; 
just  as  it  called  for  blacksmiths'  shops  and  car- 
penters' shops,  and  other  establishments  for  trade. 
It  was  the  people  at  large  who  did  this.  And 
when  they  called,  the  tavern-keepers,  and  other 
dealers  in  the  article,  came,  and  engaged  in  the 


TRAFFIC   IN   SPIRITS.  193 

business,  as  the  blacksmiths  and  carpenters  came 
and  opened  theirs ;  all  with  the  public  approba- 
tion !  Every  new  tavern  and  grog-shop  in  a 
village  was  hailed  as  so  much  clear  gain:  be- 
sides adding  to  the  conveniences,  it  was  supposed 
to  increase  the  business  of  the  place,  and  help  to 
make  it  flourish.  When  people  spoke  of  a  town, 
they  used  to  rate  its  importance  and  eligibleness 
by  saying,  So  many  taverns,  so  many  meeting- 
houses, so  many  grocery  stores,  —  meaning  spirit 
stores,  &c.  The  traffickers  were  the  servants  of 
the  public  will.  In  conformity  to  that,  they 
gave  themselves  up  to  their  trade,  invested  their 
all  in  it,  embarked  their  energies,  their  lives,  and 
their  families  in  it.  New  adventurers  came  in, 
and  trained  themselves  up  for  the  business,  to 
the  general  joy.  And  so  the  enterprise  went  on, 
till  within  a  few  years. 

And  now,  because  we  have  got  our  eyes  open, 
at  length,  to  the  terrible  mistake  we  made,  do 
we  expect  that  the  numerous  hosts  which  were 
called  into  the  field  are  to  wheel  about,  at  the 
first  tap  of  the  drum,  and  march  off?  —  that  they 
are  to  bear  all  the  penalty  of  our  mutual  blun- 
der ?  —  to  sacrifice  their  property,  business,  and 
arrangements  for  life,  without  any  trouble,  or 
expense,  or  sacrifice,  on  our  part  ?  I  assure 
you,  my  friends,  this  is  not  the  way  things  ever 


194  OUR  DAT. 

work  in  God's  righteous  providence.  "We  our- 
selves have  sowed  to  the  wind ;  and  we,  too, 
shall  have  to  reap  the  whirlwind.  We  must  be 
content  to  endure  the  tempest,  till,  by  strenuous 
labor,  pursued  in  humility  and  penitence,  we 
shall  have  secured  a  common  shelter  from  its 
further  devastations.  It  is  we  who  must  do 
away  this  evil,  which  we  brought  on.  We  must 
work,  and  work  hard,  for  it.  We  must  be  ready 
to  meet  expense ;  we  must  be  ready  to  suffer,  if 
need  be ;  we  must  pay,  in  one  way  or  another, 
for  the  mistake  we  committed.  We  shall  not  be 
let  off  short  of  this. 

I  say  we,  because  we  are  part  of  the  social 
body,  and  inherit  its  liabilities  as  well  as  its 
advantages.  Besides,  the  most  of  us  here  have 
been,  in  our  day,  personal  actors  in  this  wrong, 
either  by  our  example,  or  by  our  more  direct 
agency. 

No ;  the  blame  does  not  rest  wholly  on  the 
spirit-dealers.  It  lies  quite  as  heavily  on  the 
community  at  large.  I  do  not  say  on  every 
individual ;  for  there  may  be  some  who  always 
protested  against  the  evil ;  and  there  are  many 
younger  persons  who  never  had  any  direct  share 
in  it.  But  these  are  only  the  exceptions.  The 
truth,  after  all,  is,  that  the  people,  as  a  body, 
have  entered  into  the  patronage  of  this  traffic  to 


TRAFFIC   IN    SPIRITS.  195 

a  far  greater  extent  than  they  are  aware  of.  I 
shall  say  nothing  of  the  immense,  almost  univer- 
sal, participation  they  have  had,  in  the  way  of 
buying  and  consuming.  Pass  by  the  maxim, 
that  the  partaker  is  as  bad  as  the  thief.  I  will 
only  mention  one  fact ;  which,  however,  covers 
the  whole  ground,  and  shows  that  the  people 
have  actually  taken  upon  themselves  the  respon- 
sibility and  the  guilt,  to  the  utmost.  They  went 
so  far  as  to  sanctify  the  sale,  by  solemn  enact- 
ments, as  necessary  "to  the  public  good."  I 
may  mistake  in  what  I  am  about  to  say  :  —  My 
impression  is,  that  they  have  continued  that 
sanction  on  the  statute-book,  down  to  this  day ; 
though  every  soul  of  them  knows  it  is  one  of  the 
most  impudent,  scandalous  falsehoods  that  a 
people  ever  uttered  in  legislation.  They  have 
done  more.  They  hesitated,  indeed,  to  speak 
out  in  plain  words,  right  on  the  face  of  the  stat- 
ute-book, just  how  far  they  wished  the  traffic  to 
be  carried.  But  they  always  took  good  care, 
after  the  laws  were  made,  to  have  them  adminis- 
tered in  such  a  way  as  to  answer  their  wishes 
completely.  For  a  long  time  they  elected  offi- 
cers, who,  generally  speaking,  would  license  as 
many  as  applied,  were  they  more  or  less,  good, 
bad,  or  indifferent ;  and  they  kept  those  officers 
in  place,  after  it  was  seen  and  known  how  they 


196  OUR   DAT. 

managed.  They  -would  have  no  other.  They 
contended  for  them  at  the  caucus  ;  they  con- 
tended for  them  at  the  polls.  They  would  have 
it  so. 

Now,  leaving  wholly  out  of  the  account  the 
part  the  people  have  acted  in  purchasing,  let  us 
put  it  to  our  conscience  to  say  whether  all  the 
blame  lies  on  the  venders.  The  community  has 
been  accessory  ;  perhaps  we  ought  to  say,  princi- 
pal !  Remember  this.  Let  the  blame  be  shared 
in  just  proportion  among  the  several  parties. 
Do  not  charge  it  all  on  the  dealers.  They  must, 
indeed,  take  their  share  ;  and  a  heavy  one  it  is. 
But  if  we  try  to  lay  the  whole  of  it  there,  it  will 
not  stay  there.  It  is  one  of  the  terrible  ordi- 
nances of  Divine  Justice,  that,  when  a  people 
have  consented  to  folly,  it  is  they  who  must 
atone  for  it  by  suffering,  and  by  long-continued 
efforts  to  repair  the  harm  they  have  done.  In 
the  case  now  before  us,  the  body-politic  delib- 
erately and  wilfully  took  this  malignant  humor, 
this  erysipelas,  into  its  own  blood ;  and  the  same 
body-politic  cannot  now  get  rid  of  it  simply  by 
being  moderately  sorry  for  it,  and  by  putting 
forth  a  few  efforts  at  its  leisure.  It  will  have  to 
work  it  out  by  bitter  medicines,  and  by  a  long 
course  of  suffering.  That,  we  shall  find  to  be 
God's  law. 


TRAFFIC   IN   SPIRITS.  197 

Perhaps  some  will  ask,  "  But  why  do  you  go 
into  these  considerations?  We  do  not  see  the 
use.  It  seems  like  pleading  the  cause  of  the 
trafficker."  No,  my  friends  ;  that  is  not  the  in- 
tent. We  do  it  for  two  reasons :  —  First,  to 
render  impartial  justice,  which,  in  every  under- 
taking, it  is  always  important  sacredly  to  regard ; 
and,  secondly,  to  take  the  only  true  ground  —  to 
bring  ourselves  into  the  right  frame  of  mind  for 
working  with  success  against  this  traffic.  Shall 
I  mention  three  or  four  considerations  that  are 
plainly  suggested  by  the  view  we  have  taken  ? 

Considering  how  deep  the  evil  lies,  and  how 
generally  we  have  participated  in  it,  we  must 
not  expect  to  succeed  in  suppressing  it  at  one, 
two,  or  three  trials  ;  any  more  than  a  man  with 
a  chronic  disease  ought  to  expect  that  one  or 
two  doses  of  medicine  will  cure  him.  Repeat 
the  prescription,  and  still  repeat  it.  These 
failures  are  only  a  small  part  of  the  penalty 
which  the  community  is  to  pay  for  the  share  it 
has  taken  in  establishing  and  sustaining  the 
business.  We  shall  probably  fail  many  times 
yet ;  but  patience  and  perseverance  will  do  the 
work  at  length.  Again :  We  must  not  think  to 
carry  the  enterprise  through,  without  much  sacri- 
fice on  our  own  part.  It  is  but  the  just  due  that 
God  will  exact  of  us.  It  is  mortifying  to  hear 


198  OUR   DAT. 

the  complaints  which  some  temperance  people 
themselves  make  against  any  measure  that  in- 
terferes with  their  convenience  or  pecuniary 
interest ;  as  if  they  supposed  that  they  were,  of 
course,  to  be  spared  all  trouble  in  the  matter. 
One  says,  "These  prosecutions  make  a  bill  of 
cost  for  the  county.  They  increase  our  taxes. 
My  tax  bill  is  several  cents  more,  on  that  ac- 
count. This  will  never  do."  Another  says, 
"  This  shutting-up  of  the  regular  sale  obliges  me 
to  pay  more  for  the  article,  when  needed  for 
medicine  or  bathing.  I  will  not  submit  to  this." 
Another,  "  I  have  dealings,  in  the  way  of  barter, 
with  yonder  spirit  store.  Others,  perhaps,  ought 
to  withdraw  their  custom ;  but  I  cannot  be  ex- 
pected to  do  so,  because  it  would  take  business 
out  of  my  hand,  to  the  amount  of  several  dollars 
a  year."  It  is  not  a  little  trying  to  one's  pa- 
tience to  listen  to  such  pleas.  You  would  have 
the  rum-seller  sacrifice  the  main  part  of  his 
business ;  he  can  do  that  well  enough.  But 
you,  good  temperance  people,  you  will  not  bear 
to  be  charged  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  on  your  tax 
bill,  nor  fourpence  on  a  bottle  of  alcohol,  nor 
give  up  a  fraction  of  your  barter  trade,  nor  suf- 
fer the  least  inconvenience,  to  bring  about  the 
reform !  No  ;  God  forbid !  These  people  be- 
tray themselves.  They  show  very  clearly,  that, 


TRAFFIC    IN    SPIRITS.  199 

if  they  themselves  were  engaged  in  the  trade, 
they  never  would  give  it  up  so  long  as  they 
could  make  one  cent  by  it.  Again :  —  We  see 
that  personal  denunciation  against  the  dealers 
themselves  is  as  unbecoming  as  it  certainly  is 
impolitic.  Many  of  them  were  drawn  into  the 
trade  by  the  facilities  and  encouragement  which 
the  community  offered ;  and  the  most  of  us  have 
partaken  of  the  guilt.  How  few  can  cast  the 
first  stone !  Remember,  it  is  their  business  we 
have  to  do  with,  not  the  men.  Call  them  rum- 
sellers  ;  that  expresses  the  whole  of  the  fact  in 
the  case.  Calling  them  by  other  hard  names 
only  presupposes  that  their  actual  crime  is  not 
bad  enough.  Finally,  we  see  that,  with  all  ten- 
derness and  sympathy  for  the  persons  engaged 
in  it,  we  must,  nevertheless,  put  a  stop  to  the 
traffic,  at  all  hazards,  and  at  all  expense,  or  we 
are  but  adding  to  the  guilt  of  our  former  delin- 
quencies. Go  to  work  with  the  consciousness 
that  we,  that  the  public  at  large,  are  responsible 
before  God  and  man  for  this  great  evil;  that, 
generally  speaking,  we  all  are  sinners  together 
in  this  matter;  that  we  cannot  throw  off  the 
guilt,  nor  sign  ourselves  off  from  it,  while  the 
curse  remains  ;  but  that,  with  God's  help,  we 
will  be  sinners  in  this  respect  no  longer;  and' 
that  we  will  see  this  terrible  fountain  of  ruin, 
shut  up. 


200 


THE  HUTCHINSONS. 

BY  REV.  A.  HIGHBORN. 

IT  was  once  remarked,  by  one  deeply  skilled 
in  the  science  of  human  nature,  "  Let  me  write 
the  songs  of  a  people,  and  I  care  not  who  makes 
their  laws."  The  history  of  nations  has  fully 
illustrated  the  truth  implied  in  this  saying;  to 
wit,  that  poetry  and  music  are  two  of  the  most 
powerful  elements  in  forming  the  opinions  and 
governing  the  actions  of  man.  A  witty  divine 
was  once  asked  why  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon 
was  left  out  of  the  canon  of  Scripture,  while  the 
Songs  of  Solomon  were  retained.  He  replied, 
that  "men  in  all  ages  had  preferred  songs  to 
wisdom ; "  the  truth  of  which,  we  think,  is  ob- 
vious. 

Music  —  operating,  as  it  does,  upon  the  pas- 
sions and  impulses  of  man's  nature  —  must  ne- 
cessarily control,  in  great  measure,  his  volitions, 
while  under  its  influence.  Its  language,  too,  is 
universal.  Who  has  not,  at  some  moment  of 


THE    HDTCHINSONS.  201 

his  life,  bowed  in  submission  to  its  power  ?  It 
has  its  plaintive  and  voluptuous  strains,  by 
which  the  lover  softens  the  heart  of  his  mistress, 
and  bends  her  cold  and  haughty  spirit  to  his  will. 
It  stirs  up  the  mind  of  the  soldier,  and  urges  him 
on  to  deeds  of  valor,  steeling  his  soul  against  pity  or 
fear.  Up  the  steep  and  icy  track  of  the  Alps, 
undaunted  by  cold  or  death,  he  drags,  with  vi- 
gorous arms,  the  heavy  cannon  ;  marching  to  the 
soul-inspiring  strains  of  Napoleon's  matchless 
bands.  It  comes  anon,  like  a  ministering  angel, 
to  the  soul  laden  with  grief  and  woe,  and  opens 
to  the  vision  the  bright  field  of  peace  and  beauty. 
It  swells  the  heart  with 

'•  Thoughts  that  lie  too  deep  for  tears," 

when  the  soul  comes  into  the  presence  of  its 
Maker  to  worship ;  it  seems  to  lift  us  above  the 
world  and  all  things  pertaining  thereto,  save  its 
deep  and  holy  affections ;  and  we  enter  the  pres- 
ence of  the  beautiful  and  the  divine.  It  sheds  a 
holy  calm  around  the  bed  of  death,  and  throws 
the  gleam  of  immortality  across  the  dark  and 
cheerless  valley  of  dissolution.  But  why  enu- 
merate examples  ?  We  know  that  there  is  more 
in  music  than  "  our  philosophy  e'er  dreamed 
of;"  and  we  hail  with  joy  the  fact,  that  the 
13 


OUR   DAT. 

divine,  spiritual  element  of  the  science  is  becom- 
ing better  understood  and  appreciated. 

Every  department  of  life  has  its  peculiar 
music ;  each,  in  its  turn,  embodying  the  current 
and  ruling  ideas  and  passions.  The  wildly- 
fantastic  melody  of  the  sable  inhabitant  of  the 
rice  and  cotton  fields  of  the  South — which  he 
makes  at  night,  when  the  whip  and  the  hoe  are 
laid  aside,  and  he  has  gathered  with  his  compan- 
ions in  some  rude  hut  —  is  as  expressive  of  his 
condition,  and  tells  in  far  more  eloquent  and 
truthful  tones  the  depth  of  his  moral  and  phy- 
sical degradation,  than  when  depicted  in  the 
burning  words  of  liberty's  most  faithful  and 
uncompromising  champions.  God  speed  the  day, 
when  a  more  hopeful  and  rejoicing  strain  shall 
blend  with  their  wild  harmony  ! 

The  influence  which  music  exerts,  in  moulding 
the  opinions  of  men,  has  not  been  overlooked 
by  the  different  classes  of  modern  reformers. 
The  Washingtonians  have  sung,  as  well  as 
preached ;  and  it  were  bard  to  tell  with  which 
weapon  they  have  gained  the  most  victories. 
Their  speeches  may  become  stale,  but  their 
songs  never;  and  so  long  as  the  boys  at  their 
play,  and  the  girls  at  their  needles,  and  the 
mother  at  the  cradle,  and  the  father  at  his  toil, 
are  humming  and  shouting  the  beautiful  cold- 


THE    HUTCHINSONS.  203 

water  melodies,  the  cause  of  temperance  can 
never  retrograde.  They  have  taken  the  place 
of  the  bacchanalian  odes,  which  in  our  boyhood 
were  as  familiar  as  household  words  ;  and  which, 
without  doubt,  were  corrupting  in  their  tendency 
upon  the  youthful  mind.  The  cause  of  human 
freedom  has  much  to  hope  from  the  same  source ; 
and  in  this  department  its  friends  have  not  been 
idle.  The  songs  of  Garrison,  and  Pierpont,  and 
Longfellow,  and  many  others  who  might  be 
named,  are  among  the  best  lyric  compositions  of 
our  literature ;  and  freedom  has  much  to  hope  for 
from  them.  Men  will  sing,  but  not  for  slavery  ; 
the  music  of  the  native  heart  is  called  forth  only 
by  freedom's  strains ;  and  in  her  name  may  the 
Muses  ever  be  invoked. 

Foremost  among  the  sweet  minstrels  of  our 
day  are  the  Hutchinson  Family,  —  the  name  we 
have  placed  at  the  head  of  this  article.  They 
are  known  and  appreciated,  not  only  in  New 
England,  their  native  home,  but  in  Old  England, 
the  mother  of  us  all.  We  need  not  speak  of  their 
history :  whoever  has  listened  to  their  inimitable 
"  Old  Granite  State  "  (and  who  has  not  ?)  under- 
stands this  already.  They  have  done  much  to 
awaken  a  love  in  our  people  for  native  music  ; 
and  broken  —  we  trust  for  ever  —  the  foolish 
taste  for  foreign  importations  of  an  inferior 


204  OUR   DAT. 

quality.  Their  chief  merit,  as  artists,  consists 
in  the  purity  of  their  tones,  the  fine-blended 
harmony  of  their  voices,  and  their  naturalness ; 
the  entire  absence  of  all  affectation,  and  striving 
after  effect,  which  is  the  characteristic  of  foreign* 
ers.  They  have  thus  come  directly  in  contact 
with  the  native  heart,  which  never  loses  its  loy- 
alty to  truth  and  virtue,  nor  its  love  for  the 
really  pure  and  beautiful,  pervert  and  distort  it 
as  you  may :  the  divine  spark  cannot  be  trodden 
out  by  sensualism,  for  it  is  God's  spirit.  But  the 
chief  glory  of  these  charming  singers  is,  they 
have  consecrated  their  divine  gifts  to  the  work  of 
reform.  You  will  find  them  at  the  anti-slavery 
meeting,  stilling  the  mobocratic  tendencies  of 
the  "  sovereigns"  —  who  cannot  bear  to  be  told 
of  the  sins  of  their  country  —  by  a  chorus  of 
sweet  sounds,  which  drives  the  spirit  of  sin  out 
from  their  hearts,  and  involuntarily  leads  them 
to  join  in  the  stirring  chorus  of  "  Clear  the 
track  for  emancipation ! "  The  hearts  of  the 
veterans  are  made  glad,  and  inspired  with  new 
zeal  for  the  work  before  them.  And  when  the 
jarring  elements  of  reform  lose  their  equilibrium, 
and  a  tempest  is  threatened  where  harmony  and 
unity  are  indispensable,  like  oil  upon  the  troubled 
waters  has  descended  the  sweet  harmony  of 
their  voices,  and  peace  and  order  prevail.  But 


THE   HUTCHINSONS.  205 

not  to  this  department  of  reform  alone  have  they 
given  their  aid :  theirs  is  a  heart  which  beats  for 
universal  humanity.  You  may  find  them  in  the 
prison,  striving  to  awaken  the  diviner  elements 
in  the  minds  of  those  whose  lives  have  been 
darkened  by  crime,  and  whom  society  has  cut  off 
from  her  sympathies.  Many  a  rough  and  har- 
dened criminal,  who  could  face  danger  and  death 
with  unflinching  nerves,  and  whose  nature  seemed 
steeled  against  sympathy,  the  fountains  of  its 
goodness  dried  up,  has  been  made  to  feel  that 
there  was  hope  for  him,  and  that  virtue  was 
worth  an  effort,  while  listening  to  the  strains  of 
these  apostles  of  love ;  and  thus  the  lonely  cell, 
and  the  monotonous  round  of  their  lives,  have 
been  cheered,  as  it  were,  by  a  visitation  from 
heaven.  Like  Elisha,  they  go  long  in  remem- 
brance thereof ;  and,  as  they  look  back  on  the 
days  of  their  confinement,  ever  behold  this 
bright  and  happy  spot. 

God  bless  the  noble  Hutchinsons !  for  indeed 
are  they  ministers  of  peace,  love,  and  freedom. 
Methinks,  too,  there  is  a  spirit  of  divine  pro- 
phecy in  their  songs.  Who  that  has  listened  to 
"  There  's  a  good  time  coming,"  can  doubt  it  ? 
Humanity  may  well  rejoice,  as  she  looks  forward 
to  her  future  triumphs.  Not  only  have  the  pure 
in  heart  gathered  around  her  standard,  and 


206  OUK   DAT. 

eloquence  and  poetry  swelled  the  ranks  of  her 
worshippers,  but  the  spirit  of  music  —  the  divine 
element  of  power  to  mould  the  human  heart  — 
has  joined  in  her  train.  The  tendencies  of  the 
age  are  towards  reform.  Literature,  the  arts, 
and  music,  are  all  sweeping  on  in  this  mighty 
current.  Hoary  vice  may  hug  its  chains;  but 
the  soul  must  and  will  be  free.  We  need  set  no 
bounds  to  our  hope ;  for  the  triumphs  of  love 
and  humanity  are  infinite.  The  spiritual  ener- 
gies of  man  are  being  developed  as  never  before, 
and  the  songs  of  the  world  are  of  virtue  and 
freedom.  Yea,  "  there 's  a  good  time  coming ; " 
and  God  grant  that  the  noble  minstrel-band,  who 
are  hastening  it  onwards,  may  live  to  see  and  to 
sing  its  triumphs  ! 


207 


THE  MOVING  SPIRIT  OF  REFORM. 

Joy  shall  be  in  heaven  over  one  tinner  t/tat 
repenteth,  more  than  over  ninety  and  nine  just 
persons  which  need  no  repentance.  Why  ? 

Because  heavenly  beings  were  never  distressed 
in  their  own  state  by  sympathy  with  the  suffering 
of  the  ninety  and  nine  just  persons.  But  they 
had  borne  the  burden  of  the  shiner's  suffering, 
in  sympathy,  through  their  kindred  nature  ;  and 
when  his  spirit  by  repentance  had  cast  off  that 
burden,  they,  too,  with  him  were  relieved. 
Therefore  rejoiced  they  both  with  him,  and  in 
the  heaven  of  their  own  being,  with  double  joy, 
more  than  over  the  ninety  and  nine  just,  who 
had  no  suffering  in  themselves,  and  caused  none 
by  sympathy  to  the  angels.  The  sinner  repent- 
ant set  himself  and  the  angels  free  together,  and 
so  there  was  joy  in  heaven.  Because  of  his  sin, 
heavenly  spirits  had  been  in  suffering  with  him 
through  their  love.  The  righteous  had  no  such 
burden  to  bear,  and  no  such  burden  to  lay  upon 


208  OUR   DAT. 

them.  Earth  wrong  will  not  leave  heaven  at 
peace.  Man,  in  sin  and  suffering,  touches  the 
angels  with  sadness.  Such  and  so  universal  is 
the  spiritual  law  of  love.  The  spirits  in  heaven 
do  not  escape  suffering,  while  one  being  on  earth 
is  in  the  woe  of  sin.  The  happiness  of  heaven 
is  not  complete  while  in  all  the  universe  is  one 
wrong  spirit.  Heaven  is  not  a  place,  but  a 
state.  Hell  is  not  a  place,  but  a  state.  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  within  you.  The  kingdom 
of  hell  is  within  us.  There  can  be  no  hell  but 
what  sin  makes  in  the  spirit.  There  can  be  no 
complete  heaven  while  there  is  hell  in  any  spirit 
in  the  universe,  because  of  yearning  love.  On 
the  whole  spiritual  universe  is  laid  the  necessity 
to  root  out  sin  from  every  heart,  or  it  can  never 
itself  be  in  the  heaven  of  rest  and  peace.  Eter- 
nal sin,  eternal  suffering,  is  impossible  in  God's 
universe,  because  of  love.  Love  knows  it  to  be 
so.  The  spiritual  universe  must  redeem  the 
sinner,  that  it  may  itself  be  whole.  That  neces- 
sity is  laid  upon  it.  So  alone  comes  its  har- 
mony, its  unity. 

The  poor  man's  friend,  the  drunkard's  friend, 
the  slave's  friend,  the  prisoner's  friend,  the  out- 
cast's friend  —  whatsoever  name  the  outcast  may 
bear  —  who  are  they  ?  why  are  they  ?  If  they 
be  true,  they  are  those  in  whom  abides  this  kin- 


THE   MOVING    SPIRIT    OF   REFORM.        209 

dred  love,  which  lays  upon  their  souls  the  an- 
gelic necessity  of  suffering  in  others'  suffering. 
And  this  also  is  the  reason  why  they  are.  Hu- 
manity is  strong  in  them  ;  the  kindred  tie  holds 
them  to  their  suffering  kind.  They  have  no  life 
till  they  relieve  the  suffering.  This  is  the  end 
for  which  they  live  —  their  life  itself.  They 
know  that  all  are  brethren  ;  that  redemption  is 
not  possible  for  one  unless  it  be  actual  for  all. 
They  are  instinct  with  love ;  pledged  in  the 
necessity  of  their  natures  to  the  work  of  redeem- 
ing humanity ;  and  rest  not  till  their  work  be 
done.  They  seem  inordinate,  because  they  are 
gifted  with  the  necessity  of  love  beyond  their 
fellows.  This  burden  of  sympathy  is  laid  upon 
them ;  the  burden  which  the  angels  bear.  They 
may  have  the  weakness  of  impatience,  the  in- 
temperance of  indignation.  But  these  do  not 
move  them  to  their  work.  Love  moves  them. 
Whatsoever  other  weakness  they  may  have, 
their  strength  lies  in  this  love  ;  this  necessity  in 
their  natures  of  doing  the  promptings  of  love. 

They  are  not  banded  together  for  self,  nor  for 
some,  but  for  all.  They  are  not  called  the 
slave's  friends,  the  prisoner's  friends,  the  out- 
cast's friends,  except  by  a  partial  designation. 
The  name  is  convenient,  but  it  does  not  tell  the 
whole ;  for  they  are  at  the  same  time  the  friends 


210  OUR  DAY. 

of  those  who  enslave  the  slave,  the  friends  of 
those  who  imprison  the  prisoner,  the  friends 
of  those  who  outcast  the  outcast.  They  know 
that  all  the  race  are  as  one ;  that  they  labor  for 
all,  in  the  cause  of  all,  when  they  labor  to  re- 
move any  evil.  They  who  do  a  wrong  are  aided 
when  the  wrong  is  removed,  as  well  as  they  to 
whom  the  wrong  is  done.  To  encounter  wrong 
is  to  help  all,  —  as  well  those  who  do,  as  those 
who  suffer,  the  wrong.  Humanity  is  one.  The 
cause  of  humanity  is  one. 

Strikingly,  impressively,  these  reformers,  in 
this  age,  are,  as  a  body,  moral  suasionists,  non- 
resistants,  peace  persons,  anti-physical-force  per- 
sons, in  the  theory  of  the  means  to  be  used  in 
their  work.  However  violent  they  may  seem, 
however  violent  they  may  be,  in  their  involun- 
tary temperament  and  constitution  (the  gift  of 
generation,  and  the  inheritance  of  birth,  in  a 
distempered  time,  the  law  in  the  members  war- 
ring against  the  law  of  the  mind),  they  utterly 
repudiate  the  principle  of  violence,  in  the  depth 
of  their  spiritual  being,  in  the  central  free-will, 
the  source  of  all  true  motion,  and  affirm  the  law 
of  love.  They  affirm  that  violence  is  wrong, 
though  in  the  best  cause;  and  that  out  of 
wrong  no  right  can  come.  They  are  content  to 
be  themselves  judged  by  this  principle.  No  end 


THE   MOVING   SPIRIT   OF   REFORM.        211 

can  justify  wrong  means,  even  in  the  holiest 
cause.  No  good  end  can  come  by  wrong  means, 
even  in  the  holiest  cause.  They  know  that  if 
they  must  transform  themselves  into  soldiers, 
that  is,  into  man-killers,  to  establish  even  the 
truths  of  religion  and  liberty,  they  have  done  it 
by  a  falsehood  to  the  loving  nature,  as  great  as, 
perhaps  greater  than,  the  abuse  they  have  so 
sought  to  overcome.  They  know  that  wrong 
can  never  establish  right.  They  know  that  the 
true  soul  must  love  even  enemies,  if  it  were  only 
to  keep  itself  in  love.  They  know  that  love  your 
enemies  is  the  necessary  condition  of  the  state  of 
love  in  the  heart,  the  joy  of  which  state  ceases 
for  any  being  the  moment  he  ceases  to  love  all 
and  begins  to  hate  any.  Hate  is  suicidal.  It 
must  have  slain  love  in  our  souls  first,  before  it 
could  go  out  of  us,  and  arm  itself  with  the  sword 
to  slay  the  enemy.  He  who  would  keep  his 
own  inward  state  of  peace  cannot  adventure  to 
make  war  upon  any  being.  Thereby  he  loses 
himself. 

These  reforming  natures  are  called  destruc- 
tives, as  showing  an  evil  purpose  violently  to 
destroy.  They  are  not  at  all  so.  Destruction 
is  the  consequence  of  their  purpose,  not  their 
purpose.  Their  purpose  is  creative,  constructive. 
Where  stands  the  evil,  they  would  build  the  good, 


212  OUR   DAT. 

when  the  evil  is  fallen  down.  They  declare  cer- 
tain practices,  in  which  men  have  embodied  sel- 
fish passions,  and  on  which  they  have  built  selfish 
interests,  to  be  what  they  are,  wrong,  evil.  All 
evil  practice,  all  evil  institution,  grows  out  of  evil 
in  men's  hearts.  The  truths  they  declare  will 
move  men's  hearts,  will  reform  men's  hearts,  will 
reestablish  the  good  there,  instead  of  the  evil, 
out  of  which  the  wrong  practice  has  grown,  and 
it  will  then  inevitably  fall :  for  then  its  founda- 
tion is  gone ;  the  soil  out  of  which  it  grew  is 
gone;  it  must  then  perish.  This  consequence 
they  who  have  passions  and  interests  pledged  in 
the  evil  practice  see  beforehand,  in  the  preach- 
ing of  the  truth ;  and  so  they  cry  out  against  the 
preachers,  as  disturbers,  as  destructives.  But 
the  truth,  moving  men's  hearts,  destroys  the  evil 
institution,  not  the  destructive  intent,  of  the 
preacher  battering  at  its  walls.  Men  are  the  pil- 
lars of  all  human  institutions  ;  and  when  they 
come  away  from  under  them  to  hear  and  love 
the  preacher's  truth,  lo!  the  institutions  are 
fallen  down,  which  they  left  without  support, 
and  they  proceed  to  set  up  the  new.  Some 
southern  man  in  Congress,  speaking  of  the  anti- 
slavery  agitation,  said,  it  is  not  the  interference 
of  the  abolitionists  with  our  property,  which  we 
fear ;  we  can  defend  that  against  any  direct  as- 


THE   MOVING   SPIRIT    OF   REFORM.        213 

sault  from  them.  It  is  their  work  upon  the 
consciences  of  the  South,  which  we  fear.  The 
slaveholder  saw  the  matter  truly.  The  reform- 
ers see  it  truly.  All  evil  institutions  grow  out 
of  evil  in  the  heart ;  they  know  and  are  per- 
suaded of  it.  It  is  in  vain  that  the  reformer 
turns  destructive,  and  overthrows,  by  any  force, 
the  outward  institution,  before  men's  hearts  are 
prepared.  It  will  grow  up  again  as  soon  as  it 
is  destroyed.  All  history's  violent  revolutions 
turned  backward  demonstrate  this,  with  the 
finger  of  warning,  as  a  stern  and  uncontradicta- 
ble  fact,  to  the  hardest  intellect,  which  has  no 
ears  to  hear  love's  voice  continually  whispering 
the  same  truth,  as  the  word  of  its  simplest  self- 
evident  inward  revelation.  When  the  evil  prin- 
ciple is  gone  out  of  the  heart,  the  evil  institution 
will  disappear  out  of  society.  Never  effectually 
and  thoroughly  till  then.  Get  slavery  out  of  the 
heart,  it  will  no  longer  appear  in  the  institution. 
Get  prisons  out  of  the  heart,  they  will  not  ap- 
pear on  the  earth.  Get  rum  out  of  the  heart, 
the  distilleries  and  bar-rooms  will  all  go  with  it. 
Pull  down  with  violent  destruction  any  institu- 
tion, slavery,  rummery,  the  gallows,  prisons, 
whatsoever  other,  and  leave  them  in  men's 
hearts,  and  your  labor  is  worse  than  lost.  It 
was  all  premature  —  wrong  end  foremost  —  they 


214  OUK   DAT. 

will  be  built  up  again  to-morrow.  Take  away 
their  spiritual  foundation  in  the  soul  of  man,  and 
behold  them  all  drop  down  of  themselves,  before 
your  eyes,  some  day,  in  broad  noon,  and  dis- 
appear, materially  annihilated,  as  by  miracle. 
Then  the  ground  is  clear ;  the  new  spirit  will 
draw  on  its  materials  for  construction ;  and  when 
you  wake  refreshed  from  sleep,  next  morning, 
behold,  the  first  rays  of  the  sun  greet  new-created 
institutions. 

These  reformers  of  the  nineteenth  century 
have  learned  this  lesson  by  outward  history  and 
inward  promptings.  They  are  not  destructives, 
except  negatively.  They  have  the  creative  pur- 
pose. This  moves  them.  They  love  humanity. 
They  are  the  friends  of  universal  man,  universal 
humanity.  Humanity  is  one.  They  labor  for 
all,  while  they  labor  for  any.  And  they  never 
doubt.  They  know  that  all  good  spirits  —  that 
THE  Good  Spirit  is  with  them  in  their  work. 


215 


THE  REFORMER  AND  THE  REDEEMER. 

THE    REFORMER. 

Lo,  he  comes!  a  man  of  might; 

At  the  root  of  the  tree  of  evil 
He  lavs  his  axe ;  and  on  he  goes 

To  meet  the  grim  old  DeviL 

Three  smooth  stones  within  his  sling, 

On  his  nervous  arm  he  bears : 
The  thought  of  Faith,  the  word  of  Truth, 

The  deed  of  Might    His  prayers, 

Like  eagles  on  their  pinions  strong, 

To  a  God  of  Justice  rise ; 
And,  through  the  wilderness  of  Wrong, 

"  Repent !  repent ! "  he  cries. 

"  For  long  enough  the  world  hath  borne 

Her  heavy  weight  of  woe ; 
Repent,  and  let  your  evil  deeds 

From  all  their  strong-holds  go ! " 


216  OUK    DAY. 

Beneath  his  heavy  tread,  the  flowers 

Oft  unawares  he  crushes  ; 
The  song  of  birds,  within  the  groves, 

His  clear  and  strong  voice  hushes. 

The  little  children  know  him  not ; 

His  shaggy  vestments  fright  them; 
The  piercing  rays  of  his  flashing  eye 

Oppress  their  hearts,  and  blight  them. 

On  woman's  still  and  waiting  soul 
His  words,  like  hailstones,  rattle ; 

He  rather  as  a  warrior  seems, 
With  his  armor  on  for  battle. 

The  earth  may  need  him ;  let  him  go, 
And  smooth  her  nigged  places  ; 

And  batter  down  her  Babel  towers, 
And  leave  room  in  their  spaces 

For  him  whose  shoes  he  may  not  loose,  — 
Whose  word  he  cannot  speak. 

Truth  may  be  strong,  —  but,  shorn  of  Love, 
Its  utterance  is  weak. 

THE   REDEEMER. 

Lo,  the  eastern  sky  is  gleaming 

With  the  coming  light ! 
In  the  west  a  still  star  beaming,  — 

The  last  ray  of  night. 


THE  REFORMER  AND  THE  REDEEMER.   217 

Like  the  spheral  harmonies, 

Softest  angel-voices, 
Through  the  silence,  whisper  peace, 

And  the  earth  rejoices. 

Whence  He  cometh,  none  may  know; 

His  voice  we  shall  not  hear; 
But  round  the  world  the  murmurs  flow, 

Repeating,  "  He  is  near ! " 

In  the  deep  furnace  of  his  heart 

The  fires  of  love  are  glowing ; 
They  melt  the  chains ;  and  stony  souls, 

Like  molten  steel,  are  flowing 

With  tears  of  penitence ;  and  prayers 

Go  up,  like  winged  seeds, 
And  rest  upon  the  heavenly  hills, 

And  spring  in  holy  deeds. 

The  eye  of  childhood  looketh  up, 

And  in  his  smile  rejoices ; 
And  woman's  wounded  soul  is  healed 

With  the  music  of  glad  voices. 

No  little  flower  shall  bend  its  head 

In  the  way  where  he  may  pass  ; 
The  early  dew  he  will  not  brush 

From  off  the  springing  grass. 
14 


218  OUR   DAY. 

0  age  of  noise !  to  his  beloved 

He  giveth  Peace. 
Will  you  not  stop  your  crashing  wheels,  — 

Your  thunders  cease; 

And,  in  the  stillness  of  the  night, 

One  hour  watch ; 
That  ye  may  see  the  dawning  light,  — 

The  music  catch, 

Which  floweth  from  the  heart  of  Love 

Around  the  earth  ? 
For  only  from  its  mighty  fount 

The  Truth  hath  birth.  E. 


219 


ONE  IDEA. 

BY    REV.    W.    R.    0.     MELLEN. 

THERE  has  been,  perhaps,  no  period  in  the 
world's  former  history  comparable  to  our  own  ; 
no  scenes  like  those  in  which  we  are  participating. 
Society  is  full  of  dissent  and  protest ;  while  all 
sexes  and  conditions  are  agog  for  something  novel 
and  eccentric.  Human  thought  is  busy.  All  great 
questions  are  discussed  with  no  little  zeal  and 
avidity.  Not  a  few  seem  to  be  contented,  and 
to  be  contented  only  in  the  midst  of  some  excite- 
ment. Old  institutions  and  customs  are  assailed 
with  but  little  reverence,  not  to  say  audacity; 
while  new  movements  are  projected  almost  every 
day,  labelled  "  Reform,"  and  foisted  upon  the 
community ;  many  of  which  having,  like  the  pro- 
phet's gourd,  grown  up  in  a  day,  have  drooped 
and  died  in  a  night. 

But  while  one  class  is  engaged  in  these  new 
measures,  by  which  the  world  is  to  be  converted 
and  saved  instanter,  another  —  with  knees  smit- 


220  OUR    DAY. 

ing  together  like  Belshazzar's  —  is  clinging  to 
the  old,  dust-covered,  and  mouldering  altars  of 
the  Past.  The  latter  party  is  horror-struck  at 
the  innovations  which  are  going  on  around  it. 
It  sees  nothing  more  plainly  foretold  by  the 
signs  of  the  times,  than  the  fact,  that  society  is 
outgrowing  its  old  garments,  and  refusing  to 
tarry  longer  in  the  old  temples,  where  its  devo- 
tions have  formerly  been  paid.  And,  as  sounds 
of  progress  —  which  come  to  us  from  lofty  hill- 
tops, and  from  deep  valleys  through  which  long 
hosts  are  sweeping  —  fall  upon  the  ear,  it  hears 
nothing  but  tokens  of  alarm  in  those  very  sounds 
which,  to  others,  are  so  pregnant  with  hope. 
Thus  the  cause  of  God  and  man  goes  forward. 
Retrogression  is  no  longer  a  possibility. 

But  there  is  an  objection  to  both  the  conserv- 
ative and  reformatory  parties,  which  seems  not 
to  have  been  developed  to  the  extent  it  should 
be.  Not,  perhaps,  that  it  is  essential  to  either, 
as  a  party ;  but  still  one  which  may  be  alleged, 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  against  both ;  though, 
doubtless,  many  in  the  ranks  of  each  are  void 
of  offence  in  this  particular. 

The  objection  to  which  I  refer  is  this :  Men 
who  engage  heart  and  hand  in  these  causes  are 
liable  soon  to  take  a  narrow  view  of  the  world 
as  it  is;  to  suppose  that  they  have  been  so 


ONE    IDEA.  221 

V 

blessed  as  to  gather  the  whole  truth ;  and,  there- 
fore, not  a  pearl  is  left  for  any  other  seeker 
thereof:  in  short,  they  are  liable  to  become  men 
of  ONE  IDEA.  They  bestride  a  favorite  hobby, 
and  spur  its  sides  till  it  threatens  to  drop  dead 
beneath  them.  They  are,  for  instance,  deeply 
interested  in  some  topic  of  reform.  They  look 
upon  the  old  and  hoary  evils  under  which  society 
is  groaning  and  staggering  like  the  drunken 
man,  and  their  hearts  are  fired  with  a  laudable 
zeal  to  remove  them.  Apparently,  they  forget 
that  there  is  any  other  evil  in  the  world.  They 
revolve  this  within  their  minds  ;  it  is  the  subject 
of  their  thoughts  when  awake,  and  of  their 
dreams  when  asleep  ;  and,  could  their  projects 
be  carried  into  operation,  this  old,  bloody  world 
would  soon  become  like  the  Eden  of  ancient,  or 
the  El  Dorado  of  modern  days.  As  quack 
physicians,  who  have  invented  some  nostrum 
which  the  journals  of  the  day  assure  us  is  to 
cure  all  diseases,  and  almost,  if  not  quite,  pre- 
vent men  from  becoming  a  prey  to  the  grim 
tyrant  Death ;  so  these  moral  and  social  practi- 
tioners imagine  they  have  discovered  the  grand 
infallible  panacea  for  life's  ills,  by  which  all  may 
be  brought  back  from  their  wanderings,  and  the 
world  purged  of  its  iniquities.  Propose  to  them 
any  other  subject  for  consideration ;  and,  though 


222  OUR   DAT. 

x 

of  the  greatest  magnitude,  yet  you  find  them  as 
cold  and  dead  with  reference  to  it,  as  they  deem 
the  world  to  be  with  regard  to  their  own  idea ; 
for  which  coldness  not  a  few  unseemly  epithets 
are  bestowed. 

This  is  the  case,  not  only  in  the  moral  world, 
with  the  moral  reformer,  but  it  is  thus  in  the 
religious  world.  Men  often  talk  as  though  there 
were  but  one  truth,  but  one  fact,  in  the  universe ; 
and  that  God,  in  his  marvellous  goodness,  had 
made  them  the  apostles  of  that.  The  different 
religious  sects  in  Christendom  seem  to  be  edu- 
cating men  thus  to  utter  one  note  without 
variance,  and  to  say  Amen  to  One  Idea.  They 
are  all  somewhat  in  fault  in  this  respect.  Take  a 
few  illustrations. 

The  all-essential  of  one  sect  is  the  "  Church." 
Beyond,  and  separate  from  this,  there  is  little 
worthy  of  consideration.  He  who  is  not  within 
its  pale  is,  to  say  the  least,  a  heretic  and  schis- 
matic. With  this  sect  the  whole  of  truth  may 
be,  ay,  is,  embraced  in  thirty-nine  articles  ; 
while  he  who  subscribes  to  them  virtually  de- 
clares, that  the  world  has  made  no  advances  in 
light  and  knowledge  for  the  last  two  centuries ; 
and  unless  the  church  should  make  some  pro- 
gress, he  will  not,  so  long  as  he  remains  a 
member  thereof.  Bound  thus  with  worse  than 


OXE   IDEA.  223 

iron  fetters,  need  we  marvel  that  men's  minds 
become  contracted,  —  narrowed  down  to  a  very 
exclusive  and  illiberal  view  of  the  things  and 
circumstances  by  which  they  are  surrounded  ? 

Another  sect  has  made  the  idea  of  Divine  Jus- 
tice its  all-essential.  It  is  this,  and  the  awful 
doom  which  they  imagine  it  will  inflict  on  the 
unregenerate  in  theTuture,  which  form  the  turn- 
ing point  of  its  discourses,  its  exhortations,  and 
its  prayers.  Speak  to  the  members  of  this  sect 
of  the  love  of  God;  that  it  is  higher  than 
heaven,  deeper  than  hell,  broader  than  the  uni- 
verse ;  and  the  reply  is,  "  We  know  all  that ; 
but  God  is  just  And,  unless  we  comply  here 
and  now  with  the  terms  on  which  salvation  is 
proffered,  we  cannot  hereafter."  Having  gazed 
upon  this  attribute  of  the  Deity  through  a  dis- 
torted medium,  and  having  supposed  that  it 
would  bear  unlimited  sway  in  the  councils  of  the 
Eternal,  they  have  besought  sinners,  not  "by 
the  mercies  of  God,"  but  by  the  terrors  of  men, 

—  which  have  been  misnamed  the  Justice  of  God, 

—  to  consecrate  themselves  to  his  service.     And 
as  a  result  of  thus  looking  at  only  one  aspect  of 
the  Divine  Mind,  may  be  named  the  coldness 
and  servility  of  our  forms  of  worship ;  concern- 
ing which  not  a  few  devout  and  loving  hearts 
have  so    often    complained.      Many  also  have 


OUR    DAT. 

thereby  obtained  a  morbid  idea  of  justice,  -which 
is  as  far  from  the  true  one  as  God's  thoughts  and 
ways  are  above  the  intentions  and  devices  of  our 
own  hearts. 

Now  the  truth  is,  the  justice  of  the  Almighty 
is  —  if  I  may  so  speak,  and  I  would  use  the 
comparison  reverently  —  but  one  accordant  string 
in  the  great  harp  of  the  universe.  An  import- 
ant one,  I  know ;  but  poor  music  could  be  made, 
were  it  not  for  this ;  and  yet,  when  continually 
touched  by  the  finger  of  the  player,  be  he  never 
so  skilful,  that  which  would  be  melody  in  its 
appropriate  place  is  changed  to  doleful  sounds 
and  dismal  groans. 

Again  ;  another  sect  makes  the  Unity  of  God 
its  idea.  So  much  is  this  the  case,  that,  by 
common  consent,  it  would  seem  to  have  become 
its  peculiar  property,  notwithstanding  it  is  held 
by  others  in  common  with  it.  The  denomination 
to  which  I  refer  has  derived  its  name  from  the 
fore-mentioned  idea  ;  and  it  is  the  centre  around 
which  it  turns.  To  the  followers  of  this  sect, 
there  are  few  things  more  inconsistent,  or  fla- 
grantly absurd,  than  that  which  represents  God 
under  the  character  of  a  triune  being.  It  has 
delighted  in  controverting  and  exposing  the  ar- 
guments by  which  this  has  been  supported.  But 
society  has  become  weary  of  so  profitless  a 


ONE   IDEA.  225 

discussion.  It  is  asking  of  this,  as  it  has  asked, 
or  will  ask,  of  every  unsettled  question,  "  Cui 
bono  ?  " —  "  What  good  "  will  the  race  gain 
from  its  decision  ?  It  is  beginning  to  feel 
it  of  far  greater  importance  to  ascertain  the 
moral  character  of  God,  and  the  destiny  which 
the  race  may  anticipate.  Bat  God  be  thanked 
that  this  sect,  which  wields  so  mighty  an  influ- 
ence among  us,  and  which  may  yet  wield  so 
much  more,  is  beginning  to  heed  the  voice  of 
sick  humanity,  which  is  praying  for  something 
tangible  on  which  it  may  lean  for  support  as  it 
goes  down  the  hill  of  life.  The  human  heart 
demands  something  definite,  to  which  it  may  as- 
pire in  the  solemn  hour  of  death.  Men  are  crying 
out  to  be  fed  with  the  bread  of  life,  and  not  with 
the  husks  of  finely-woven  speculations.  They 
are  asking  for  water,  not  for  a  golden  goblet,  in 
which  nothing  to  quench  their  thirst  can  be 
found. 

But  there  is  one  other  sect  to  which  I  wish  to 
refer,  that  has  been,  to  no  small  extent,  in  bond- 
age to  One  Idea.  Its  idea  is  the  ultimate  salva- 
tion of  every  soul  from  sin  and  sorrow.  Upon 
this  has  it  dwelt  and  harped,  to  the  exclusion  of 
almost  every  thing  else ;  and  thus  has  begotten, 
in  many  minds,  the  impression,  that  men  were  to 
be  saved  somewhere,  and  by  some  means,  —  they 


226  OUR   DAY. 

know  not,  and  care  but  little  how.  When  this 
has  been  proved,  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt, 
for  one  hundred  and  four  times  in  the  year,  they 
are  satisfied.  And  when  the  work  has  once 
been  done,  when  every  stone  has  been  taken 
from  the  traveller's  pathway,  they  desire  that 
the  same  work  should  again  be  attempted, — that 
the  path  should  be  strewn  with  worse  rubbish 
than  before,  —  and  the  preacher  again  commence 
and  clear  it  away. 

But  is  there  only  one  idea  revealed  in  the 
gospel  of  Jesus  ?  Are  we  to  sound  but  one  note 
in  the  grand  anthem  which  creation  is  chanting 
to  the  Creator,  and  attempt  no  other  for  fear  of  a 
discord?  But  there  are  many  nominal  Chris- 
tians, whose  whole  minds,  so  far  as  the  subject  of 
religion  is  concerned,  are  centered  in  this.  Their 
cries  and  clamors  for  it  are  unceasing.  Like  the 
poet's  cottager,  they  are  telling  this  o'er  and  o'er, 

"  From  morn  till  night,  from  youth  till  hoary  age." 

Now  the  greatest  cause  of  complaint  is,  not 
that  they  have  not  already  learned,  but  that  they 
are  unwilling  to  learn,  that  salvation,  either  here 
or  hereafter,  can  never  be  experienced  without 
"  repentance  toward  God,  and  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ."  They  have  not,  as  yet,  acquainted 
themselves  with  that  primal  truth  which  declares 


OXE    IDEA.  227 

that  we  can  enter  heaven  only  through  him  who 
is  the  Door ;  and  that  as  are  our  affections  and 
our  character,  so  will  be  our  happiness,  wherever 
we  may  be. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  the  different  sects 
are  partisans  of  some  one  idea.  Of  this  I  would 
not  so  much  complain,  were  it  not  for  the  fact, 
that  the  various  members  of  each  are  extremely 
liable  to  suppose,  that  themselves  have  gathered 
the  whole  truth  within  the  compass  of  a  few 
sentences.  The  natural  result  of  such  a  state  of 
feeling  is  that  narrow-souled  and  iron-hearted 
bigotry  which  induces  not  a  few  to  look  upon 
those  whose  creeds  have  not  been  clipped  to 
square  with  their  own,  and  who  pronounce  not 
shibboleth  like  themselves,  as  aliens  from  the 
commonwealth  of  Israel. 

Come,  my  brother,  who  art  thus  a  slave  of 
one  idea,  come  with  me  out  among  the  works  of 
Nature.  You  will  not  find  your  own  narrow- 
ness of  thought  answered  here.  In  every  thing 
you  behold  variety,  and  yet  unity.  You  look 
upon  the  same  object,  and  at  different  times  it 
greets  you  with  appearances  as  dissimilar  as  are 
the  phases  of  the  moon.  Still  it  is  ever  the 
same.  Examine  the  most  trite  objects  around 
you :  the  atmosphere,  for  instance.  You  do  not 
find  it  all  oxygen,  nor  all  nitrogen  ;  neither  is  it 


228  OUR   DAT. 

composed  of  these  two  exclusively,  but  contains 
also  variable  portions  of  carbonic  acid  gas  and 
aqueous  vapor.  And  yet  thou  wouldst  be  glad 
to  have  the  religious  atmosphere,  which  the  soul 
must  breathe,  consist  of  one  ingredient  only. 
Thou  wouldst  have  that  in  precise  accordance 
with  thine  own  idea  of  what  an  atmosphere 
should  be.  But  has  it  never  occurred  to  thee, 
that  such  an  air  would  be  as  destructive  to  spir- 
itual life,  as  one  composed  of  either  the  above- 
named  gases  would  be  to  animal  being  ?  Be 
cautious,  then,  or  thou  mayest  poison  many 
souls. 

Again  ;  what  is  this  mysterious  something 
which  greets  us  every  morning,  and  retires  from 
us  at  every  night,  —  which  sprang  into  being 
when  God  said,  "Let  there  be  light"?  Wilt 
thou  analyze  it,  and  tell  me  its  composition  — 
whether  it  be  substance  or  not?  Apply  the 
prism  to  that  ray  which  enters  your  eye  at  this 
moment.  That  which,  an  instant  since,  appeared 
colorless  and  destitute  of  all  beauty,  is  now  one 
of  the  most  splendid  objects  you  have  ever  seen. 
That  which  you  thought  had  no  color  is  com- 
posed of  no  less  than  seven  colors  ;  all  that 
glitter  on  the  pavilion  of  the  sun,  as  he  retires 
from  our  view  at  nightfall.  Let  these  different 
rays  fall  upon  the  same  object,  and  how  different 


ONE    IDEA.  229 

is  the  appearance  which  it  presents !   We  hardly 
recognize  it  as  the  same. 

This  may  illustrate  the  reason,  why  men 
behold  the  subjects  of  religion  and  of  human 
duty  in  various  lights.  One  has  reflected,  by  his 
theological  prism,  a  ray  of  light.  But  one  of 
the  colors  has  been  painted  on  the  retina  of  his 
eye.  He  has  not  paused  to  ascertain  whether 
he  has  comprehended  the  whole  object  from  his 
point  of  observation ;  but,  taking  this  for  granted, 
his  voice  is  soon  hoarse,  and  his  lungs  exhausted, 
with  his  vociferations  to  induce  others  to  join 
him,  and  gaze  through  precisely  the  same  me- 
dium that  he  has  done.  The  epithets  bestowed 
upon  those  who  decline,  are  by  no  means  of  the 
gentlest  character.  The  blue  ray  enters  the  eye 
of  one  ;  and  he  vainly  imagines  that  every  thing 
"  in  the  heavens  above,  in  the  earth  beneath,  and 
in  the  waters  under  the  earth,"  is  blue.  To  an- 
other, for  the  same  reason,  every  thing  is  violet ; 
to  a  third,  red ;  and  so  on  to  the  end  of  the  cata- 
logue. 

Now  the  fact  is,  that  all  things  are  tinged 
with  neither  ray.  Join  them  all  together,  and  a 
far  different  appearance,  which  is  the  true  oner 
is  presented.  Is  it  not  thus  with  the  different 
religious  sects  ?  The  main  idea  from  which 
they  start  may  be,  and  doubtless  is,  a  correct 


230  OLTR  DAY. 

one.  It  is  one  ray  of  light.  The  visions  which 
many  have  seen,  by  means  thereof,  are  not  only 
selfish  and  narrow,  but  truly  monstrous  and 
absurd.  And,  for  one,  I  want  no  more  conclu- 
sive evidence  of  the  arrogance  and  bigotry  of 
any  sect  or  man,  than  is  furnished  by  a  disposi- 
tion thus  to  exalt  its  or  his  idea  above  every 
thing  else,  as  though  there  were  no  other  thought 
in  the  universe. 

This  spirit  may  be  seen  not  only  in  the  reli- 
gious world,  but  also  among  the  various  reform- 
atory movements  of  the  age.  We  enter  the 
Temperance  meeting.  We  find  a  band  of  warm- 
hearted, noble-souled  men,  toiling,  to  the  best  of 
their  ability,  in  a  cause  which  God  approves, 
and  man  has  had  reason  to  bless.  I  sympathize 
with  them,  in  the  exertions  they  are  making.  I 
bid  them  God-speed,  in  their  efforts  against  the 
monstrous  wrong  with  which  they  are  contend- 
ing. I  suffer  nothing  to  divorce  my  heart  from 
them,  and  the  noble  enterprise  whose  champions 
they  are. 

Still  I  have  no  expectation  that  the  temper- 
ance reform,  even  if  triumphant,  will  make  the 
world  a  paradise.  I  have  no  expectation  that 
the  adamantine  heart  of  yonder  cool  and  calcu- 
lating villain  will  be  softened  thereby.  I  have 
no  expectation  that  it  will  make  this  man  or 


ONE   IDEA.  231 

that  less  disposed  to  deprive  the  widow  of  her 
pittance,  and  the  orphan  of  its  inheritance.  I  do 
not  suppose  that  it  will  elevate  man  to  a  true 
sense  of  the  great  brotherhood  of  humanity  ;  and 
therefore  it  is  that  I  cannot  subscribe  to  that 
lofty  panegyric  which  some  of  its  evangelists 
have  bestowed  upon  it.  The  idea  of  it  is  truly 
noble  and  grand ;  but  does  it  contain  all  of  truth 
and  reform  which  the  world  needs  ? 

"We  visit  the  Anti-slavery  meeting.  We  listen 
to  the  remarks  which  are  made  on  the  unity  of 
the  race,  —  that,  before  God,  we  are  all  one ; 
and  hence  one  member  has  no  right,  either  innate 
or  delegated,  to  tyrannize  over  or  oppress  an- 
other. We  listen  to  the  heart-stirring  appeals 
made  to  the  dignity  of  human  nature  ;  that 
every  thing  good  is  mocked  and  insulted  by  the 
chains  and  fetters  which  our  sable  brothers  and 
sisters  are  dragging  about  with  them  to  their 
daily  drudgery  ;  and  our  souls  are  moved  within 
us.  But  I  cannot  join  in  that  indiscriminate 
denunciation  which  some  have  thought  proper  to 
use  against  those  who,  for  a  moment,  under  any 
circumstances,  hold  slaves  in  their  possession.  I 
abhor  the  system,  I  trust,  as  much  as  any  other 
man.  I  regard  it  as  the  greatest  curse  that  has 
ever  visited  our  land.  I  have  no  wish  to  cloak  its 
iniquities;  but  would  rejoice,  were  it  in  my 


OUR    DAT. 

power,  to  tear  away  the  veil  which  time-serving 
priests  and  cunning  politicians  have  thrown  over 
it  I  would  exhibit  to  you,  reader,  the  rice- 
fields  wet  with  your  brother's  tears,  and  the 
cotton  crimsoned  with  your  brother's  blood.  I 
would  show  you  the  braided  whips,  and  the  backs 
flayed  alive.  I  would  show  you  the  implements 
of  torture,  —  the  racks  and  thumb-screws  of  this 
infernal  system ;  and  so  stir  your  very  life-blood 
to  do  something  for  your  fellow-men,  thus  cast  out 
and  trodden  under  foot. 

But  while  I  would  do  all  this,  I  would  not 
forget  another  thing,  —  that  the  slaveholder  is 
equally  a  brother  of  the  human  family.  I  would 
remember,  that  he  has  been  educated  under 
different  circumstances  from  what  I  have.  /  do 
not,  nor  does  any  one,  know  what  would  have 
been  his  peculiarities,  if  educated  in  a  slave- 
holding  country,  and  imbibing  its  atmosphere. 
Thinkest  thou,  brother,  that,  under  such  circum- 
stances, thou  wouldst  have  known  thy  present 
self  ?  Why,  then,  judgest  thou  so  harshly  thy 
fellow-men  ?  That  they  are  in  great  error  and 
sin,  God  knoweth.  Hesitate  not  to  say  this; 
how  great,  he  alone  can  tell.  And  when  I  hear 
all  denounced,  whose  creed  does  not  correspond 
with  your  own,  even  by  the  line  and  plummet, 
as  worse  than  slaveholders;  when  I  hear  the 


OKE   IDEA.  233 

churches  throughout  the  land  stigmatized  as 
worse  than  any  brothel  in  the  city,  I  am  con- 
strained to  think,  that  he  who  thus  asserts  is  a 
man  of  but  One  Idea.  Is  there  no  other  sin  in 
the  world,  than  the  sin  of  slavery  ?  Is  there  no 
other  cause  worthy  a  moment's  consideration, 
than  its  abolition  ?  "We  should  be  guarded 
against  this  exclusive  One-idealism  ;  which,  hav- 
ing eyes,  yet  sees  no  good  in  the  creed  and 
worship  of  him  who  bends  at  a  different  shrine 
from  ourselves.  Christianity  is  not  quite  so 
narrow  a  system  as  that.  The  lofty  and  varied 
character  and  bearing  of  the  truths  connected 
with  it,  can  no  more  be  fathomed  or  exhausted 
than  God  himself.  New  glories,  and  more  di- 
vine, are  bursting  upon  us  at  every  step.  New 
truths,  to  the  feeble  conception  of  which  we 
have  hardly  arisen,  are  greeting  us  with  over- 
powering splendor  on  every  hand. 

But  the  man  of  One  Idea  is  profaning  the 
temple  of  God,  thus  to  make  it  echo  but  one 
sound.  He  is  like  the  band  of  musicians  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  emperor  of  Russia ;  each  one  of  whom 
is  suffered  to  sound  but  one  note,  that  he  may 
acquire  the  greater  skill  and  perfection  at  that.* 
But  the  human  soul  should  not  stand  for  a  unit 
in  the  creation,  but  for  the  universe ;  reflecting, 

*  See  Mrs.  Child's  Letters,  first  series,  p.  187. 
15 


234  OUR   DAY. 

from  its  own  hidden  depths,  the  images  of  all 
things  good  and  true.  I  would  hope  that  this 
willingness  to  see  and  receive  truth  from  all 
sources,  is  becoming  more  prevalent;  that  our 
sympathies  are  growing  less  sectarian,  and  more 
universal ;  our  minds  less  narrow  and  exclusive, 
and  more  generous  and  expansive.  I  would 
hope  that,  in  whatever  party  or  rank  we  may 
stand,  we  are  becoming  more  desirous  of  gather- 
ing in  the  pearls  of  wisdom  and  truth,  than  of 
advancing  a  party.  We  need  far  more  of  this 
spirit,  for  the  world's  redemption.  "We  need  to 
banish  all  technicalities  of  time  and  circumstance 
between  our  souls  and  truth,  and  between  us 
and  our  brother's  soul.  We  should  let  no  mean 
prejudice,  no  paltry  apprehension,  mar  the  full 
and  free  enjoyment  of  whatever  is  soul-reviving 
in  our  brother's  word,  or  heart-quickening  in 
his  thought.*  Who  has  the  monopoly  of  truth  ? 
And  yet  we  should  be  pledged  to  nothing  Jmt 
this.  Do  sweet  and  healing  waters  bubble  up 
at  only  one  fountain  ?  Are  there  not  others 
which  send  them  forth,  to  fertilize  many  a  rood 
of  arid  soil,  and  gladden  many  a  lonely  heart  ? 
Possibly  these  may  be  better  than  those  we  are 
now  quaffing. 

Go  forth,  then,  reader,  to  your  task  on  the 

*  Hedge's  Oration  before  the  Pencinian  Society  of  Bowdoin  College. 


ONE   IDEA.  235 

great  arena  of  life  ;  but  go  with  a  free  and  a  lov- 
ing heart.  Go,  pledged  to  no  creed  but  truth  ; 
adhering  to  nothing,  and  loving  nothing,  but 
right.  Go  to  work  for  the  race  ;  but  be  not  so 
vain  as  to  imagine  that  you  have  plucked  every 
flower  that  springs  by  the  true  disciple's  path- 
way; be  not  so  arrogant  as  to  think  that  you 
have  secured  the  ideas  by  which  the  worlds  were 
made,  and  by  which  all  are  to  be  re-created. 
God  has  other  children  beside  yourself.  They 
have  another  mission  ;  which  you  may  not,  which 
you,  possibly,  could  not  perform.  It  is  for  Paul 
to  plant,  Apollos  to  water,  and  all  to  labor  in 
hope  and  love.  Thus  toiling,  heaven's  choicest 
benedictions  shall  descend  upon  you,  as  the  rain 
upon  the  mown  grass.  And  your  present  One 
Idea  shall  be  lost,  as  you  go  onward  in  light,  till 
over  your  soul  shall  spread  the  sheltering  wings 
of  the  cherubim  and  seraphim  of  Jehovah. 


236 


PATRIOTISM. 

BY  REV.  T.  8.  KIKG. 

THE  sentiment  of  patriotism  is,  of  course,  a 
legitimate  sentiment.  It  is  perhaps  a  native 
principle  of  the  human  constitution.  We  were 
wisely  constructed  with  local  sympathies  and  at- 
tractions, the  action  of  which  holds  society  to- 
gether into  some  order  and  harmony.  The 
moral  structure  of  the  world  presents  a  plan 
very  similar  to  the  mechanism  of  the  heavens :  — 
men  are  bound  together  into  private  and  selfish 
systems ;  and  these  again  into  constellations ; 
and  these  into  firmaments ;  and  all  held  and 
swayed  by  the  central  force,  active  in  each  atom, 
and  omnipotent  over  all.  Of  all  the  sentiments 
which  are  less  pure  than  of  Samaritan  brotherly 
love,  undoubtedly  patriotism  is  the  purest  and 
the  best.  But,  in  the  common  definition  of  it,  is 
it  an  ultimate  sentiment,  from  the  blind  dictates 
of  which  there  can  be  no  appeal  ?  Is  it  binding, 
is  it  lawful,  to  the  extent  —  our  country,  right 


PATRIOTISM.  237 

or  wrong  ?  Ask  a  man,  in  his  cool,  calm  mo- 
ments, if  he  is  amenable  to  the  law  of  abstract 
right,  if  that  law  has  an  imperious  despotic  claim 
for  his  obedience,  and  he  will  answer,  Yes.  Ask 
him,  in  seasons  of  exciting  national  controversy, 
if  he  will  support  his  government  in  a  wrong, 
and  he  will  plead  against  you  the  duties  of  citi- 
zenship and  patriotism,  which  urge  him  to  defend 
his  "  country,  right  or  wrong."  The  conflict  of 
moral  perceptions  implied  in  the  prevalent  and 
popular  notions  of  patriotism,  results,  in  a  great 
measure,  we  think,  from  a  confusion  of  figures 
and  metaphors  which  are  commonly  used  to  ex- 
press the  obligations  included  in  it.  The  nature 
of  true  patriotism  is  distorted,  or  is  not  dis- 
tinctly seen,  through  the  mists  of  poetic  imagery 
in  which  it  has  been  enveloped.  In  popular 
literature,  and  in  the  national  heart,  the  senti- 
ment stands  on  the  same  level,  and  is  illustrated 
by  analogous  ties,  with  filial  attachment  and 
obligations.  The  imagination  has  clothed  the 
abstraction  of  our  country  with  female  attributes. 
Our  native  land  is  termed  our  common  mother  ; 
and  in  every  emergency  we  are  thought  to  be  as 
strongly  bound  to  a  blind  defence  of  her,  as  of 
our  own  natural  mother  or  families.  It  is  un- 
pleasant to  disturb  the  sweet  illusions  of  poetry ; 
but,  hi  seeking  for  exact  truth,  we  are  often  com- 


238  OUR   DAT. 

pelled  to  dissect  the  beauty  of  many  a  fanciful 
image,  until  the  life  escapes.  Undoubtedly,  to 
the  length  of  repelling  a  direct  invasion,  of  re- 
sisting the  immediate  violence  of  a  hostile  army, 
advancing  upon  our  homes,  and  threatening 
property  and  life,  patriotism  lays  a  duty  upon 
every  man,  however  wicked  the  cause  in  which 
our  country  be  engaged.  But  we  must  also  con- 
sider that  patriotism  here  receives  great  addi- 
tional force  from,  and  perhaps  merges  itself  in, 
the  principle  of  self-defence,  and  of  interest  for 
the  welfare  of  our  immediate  neighbors.  The 
duty  does  not  spring  so  much,  at  such  times, 
from  affection  for  our  abstract  common  mother, 
as  from  more  substantial  regard  for  our  real 
relatives  and  personal  friends.  Setting  this  duty 
aside,  then,  as  not  purely  referable  to  the  claims 
of  patriotism  alone,  we  maintain  that,  beyond  this 
limit,  patriotism  is  subordinate  to  law  of  right. 
If,  in  the  common  dealings  and  public  relations 
between  our  own  and  foreign  governments,  we 
conscientiously  believe  that  our  own  rulers  have 
committed  a  wrong,  we  have  no  right  blindly  to 
espouse  the  cause  of  our  own  people,  under  the 
plea  of  obligatory  patriotism ;  and  if  then  we 
talk  of  our  common  parent,  and  of  our  filial 
duties  to  her,  we  confuse  images  as  well  as  prin- 
ciples. In  all  negotiations,  and  in  every  relation 


PATRIOTISM.  239 

of  international  business,  our  government  *  is 
merely  a  representative  board,  and  we  are  joint 
partners  in  an  extensive  house ;  being  no  more 
absolved  from  the  imperative  duty  to  resist  in- 
justice, because  we  have  committed  it,  than  a 
private  merchant  has  a  right  to  be  party  to 
a  fraud  which  a  majority  of  his  firm  are  bent  on 
perpetrating.  The  doctrine  of  ultra  and  blind 
allegiance  to  our  own  administration,  hi  such  a 
time,  looks  absurd.  It  might,  with  exactly  the 
same  propriety,  be  applied  to  common  relations 
in  more  limited  spheres.  How  would  it  do  for  a 
railroad  stockholder  to  announce  the  principle  in 
cases  of  clashing  business  interest,  or  legal  claims, 
My  railroad  company,  right  or  wrong  ?  or  for  a 
bank  director  to  contend  for  the  same  theory  of 
morals  ?  or  for  a  citizen  to  declare  for  his  state  or 
his  county,  in  every  emergency,  right  or  wrong  ? 
Stripped  of  a  false  poetic  glare,  examined  in  the 
cold,  dry  light  of  justice,  the  doctrine  will  not 
abide  the  test.  Translate  it  into  common  speech, 
and  apply  it  to  minuter  relations,  and  it  looks 
ridiculous. 

Not  that  in  these  remarks  we  wish  to  commit 
the  blunder  or  the  folly  of  denying  the  existence 
of  a  legitimate  patriotism.  We  believe  that  it 
does  exist ;  and  that,  truly  interpreted,  it  covers 
even  all  the  poetic  ground,  and  justifies  all  the 


240  OUR  DAY. 

rich  enthusiasm  which  it  has  awakened.  But 
the  same  patriotism  is  always  associated  with 
our  native  land,  not  in  its  usual  commercial  and 
business  attitude,  and  its  common  intercourse 
with  other  nations,  but  with  our  native  land  as 
the  seat  and  theatre  of  peculiar  and  sacred  insti- 
tutions, and  as  the  representative  of  a  theory  of 
government  and  rights  which  we  would  defend 
before  the  world.  Our  country,  in  this  sense  — 
its  broadest,  abstract  sense  —  is  very  different 
from  any  administration  of  the  government  of 
that  country.  The  banner  and  the  common 
centre  of  the  true  patriot's  affections,  in  this 
view,  cannot  be  the  acts  of  his  rulers,  but  the 
constitution  of  his  land  and  the  true  spirit  of  its 
laws.  And  so  far  from  being  held  by  this  pa- 
triotism to  defend  every  measure  of  the  ruling 
power  of  his  land,  even  in  their  foreign  and 
international  relations,  he  may  often  be  com- 
pelled to  disavow  them,  and  withhold  all  support, 
on  the  very  ground  that  they  do  not  represent 
his  "  country ; "  that  they  violate  its  spirit,  and 
all  that  makes  it  hallowed  and  dear ;  and  his 
opposition  will  then  be  the  truest  patriotism, 
because  it  is  the  effort  to  bring  back  the  attitude 
of  the  administration  to  the  spirit  of  his  country. 
It  is  not  always  distinctly  seen  that  there  is  a 
radical  difference  between  the  patriotism  of  the 


PATRIOTISM.  241 

revolution,  and  even  of  the  last  war,  which  con- 
tended for  the  country  against  hostile  ideas  and 
foreign  aggression,  and  the  unprincipled  subser- 
viency and  convenient  laxity  of  morals,  too  often, 
in  our  time,  synonymous  with  patriotism,  which 
goes  for  all  the  acts  of  the  dominant  party,  right 
or  wrong. 

It  is  always  well  to  know  the  extent  and  the 
limits  of  the  legitimate  application  of  principles 
which  must  influence  our  common  life.  I  do  not 
believe  that  duty  and  right  are  so  flexible  and 
pliant,  that,  in  the  light  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, their  authority  can  be  properly  and  uncere- 
moniously shaken  off  at  the  bidding  of  a  con- 
fused poetic  feeling.  The  tendency  of  morals  is 
to  see  more  clearly  that  Caesar  is  subservient 
to  God.  And  furthermore,  I  believe  that  much 
of  the  rhetoric  by  which  the  appeal  of  this 
rampant  and  boyish  patriotism  is  now  enforced, 
comes  down  to  us  from  classical  antiquity;  a 
rhetoric  which  was  once  the  proper  expression 
of  natural  feelings,  but  which,  from  the  politi- 
cal condition  and  circumstances  of  our  land,  is 
out  of  place,  and  therefore  degenerates  into 
something  very  like  bombast  and  melo-dra- 
matic  rant.  The  fountain  of  this  patriotic  in- 
spiration of  our  times  is  mostly  in  Grecian 
and  Roman  antiquity;  and  most  of  its  models 


242  OUR   DAY. 

are  still  selected  by  our  eloquent  politicians  from 
their  heroes  and  warriors.  The  staple  allusions 
of  most  of  our  eloquent  patriotic  speeches  are, 
as  every  school-boy  knows,  the  career  of  The- 
mistocles,  the  public  virtue  of  Aristides,  or  the 
bravery  of  Leonidas,  and  the  marvellous  hero- 
ism of  Thermopylae,  and  the  devotion  of  Epami- 
nondas,  and  the  integrity  of  Cincinnatus,  and  the 
sternness  of  Brutus,  &c.,  all  drawn  from  the  his- 
toric remains  of  Grecian  and  Roman  life.  But 
patriotism  of  such  kind  was  admirably  fitted 
for  small  states,  and  cases  of  perpetual  war, 
and  for  such  circumstances  alone.  A  Boeotian, 
or  an  Argive,  or  a  Spartan,  or  an  early  Roman, 
in  the  infant  days  of  the  republic,  could  well  be 
patriotic :  he  could  stretch  out  his  arms,  and 
touch  the  boundaries  of  his  country.  Every 
interest  of  personal  safety  was  connected  with 
the  existence  of  his  little  land.  He  must  stand 
in  perpetual  armor.  International  law  and  the 
common  moral  sense  of  nations  were  entirely 
unknown.  Patriotism  was  hardly  more  than 
family  interest,  a  regard  for  his  mother  and 
father,  his  relations  by  marriage,  and  all  his 
cousins.  It  was  a  principle  of  self-defence,  ne- 
cessary for  the  protection  of  his  person  and  his 
rights.  It  justified  a  gaudy  and  passionate 
rhetoric :  there  was  something  in  it  more  than 


PATRIOTISM.  243 

abstract  or  mere  poetic  beauty  to  it.  But  such  a 
patriotism  is  really  somewhat  silly  now.  The 
language  of  this  rampant  love  of  country,  if  we 
analyze  it,  borders  closely  on  the  ludicrous.  It 
starts  our  risible  muscles  to  see  a  man  trying  to 
embrace  a  whole  continent  in  his  patriotic  arms. 
Extent  of  territory,  degrees  of  latitude  and  lon- 
gitude, embarrass  it  in  modern  times.  The  old 
spirit  cannot  live  in  our  circumstances.  It  has 
geographical  limits,  if  it  has  not  moral  limits. 
Complexity  of  interests,  too,  disturb  the  ease  of 
its  operation.  Massachusetts  is  full  large  enough 
for  a  man  to  be  patriotic  in,  after  the  Greek  and 
Roman  standard.  But  what  shall  we  say  when 
you  throw  in  Kentucky  and  Arkansas,  South 
Carolina  and  Mississippi  ?  It  becomes,  then, 
like  loading  a  boy's  arms  with  apples :  he  can 
carry  only  so  many,  and  will  drop  one  for  every 
additional  one  you  give  him  beyond  his  power. 
I  once  heard  a  celebrated  lecturer  of  our  time  — 
speaking  of  a  thirst  for  knowledge  —  remark : 
"  We  wake  in  the  morning  with  an  appetite  that 
can  take  in  the  solar  system  like  a  cake.  We 
stretch  out  our  hands  to  grasp  the  morning  star, 
or  wrestle  with  Orion."  However  this  may  be 
with  our  love  of  truth,  patriotism,  in  the  lower 
acceptation  of  the  term,  has  not  a  digestive  sys- 
tem strong  enough.  If  you  make  it  stand  for 


244  OUR   DAY. 

something  lower  than  eternal  principles,  it  will 
not  cover  now  twenty-eight  States  of  the  Ameri- 
can Union. 

Go  into  any  of  the  political  parties  of  the 
time,  and  you  will  find  that  with  each  of  them, 
whig,  democratic,  or  abolitionist,  there  is  some 
member  of  our  confederacy,  some  Texas,  or 
South  Carolina,  or  Rhode  Island,  over  which 
their  personal  sympathies  will  not  spread,  and 
which  the  charm  of  patriotism  cannot  render 
palatable.  It  is  because  there  is  some  conflict 
in  principle  between  the  ideas  represented  by 
those  states,  and  the  views  of  the  party  which 
feels  and  expresses  the  distaste.  And  this  fact 
confirms  the  position  I  have  taken,  that  mod- 
ern patriotism  should  stand  on  principle,  and 
that  there  is  a  conservative  element  in  size 
which  makes  classic  patriotism  impossible  and 
absurd.  Let  us  be  thankful  for  this  fact. 
Let  us  rejoice  that  Providence  works  a  ho- 
moeopathic cure,  the  law  of  similars,  and  by 
every  addition  of  territory  makes  a  false  patriot- 
ism defeat  itself.  In  trying  to  extend  it  over 
such  a  vast  field  of  conflicting  interests  and  dif- 
ferent ideas,  it  becomes  attenuated,  it  breaks, 
and  condenses  again  into  the  law  of  duty.  We 
are  safe  there,  and  only  there.  We  are  not 
embarrassed  by  any  limits,  when  we  are  gov- 


PATRIOTISM.  245 

erned  by  the  love  of  right.  Boundaries  do  not 
disturb  us,  when  the  love  of  our  neighbor  is  the 
guiding  law.  In  great  emergencies,  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  talk  the  flowery  and  sectional  language 
of  a  selfish  patriotism ;  but  Christianity  is  the 
present  chart  of  the  world,  and  its  imperative 
love  is  obedience  to  right ;  its  central  principle, 
an  expansive  charity  to  a  universe  of  brethren. 
Csesar  may  claim  our  taxes,  but  God  and  duty 
must  claim  our  hearts.  And  while  a  genuine 
Christian  principle  does  not  forbid,  but  encour- 
ages and  impels  us,  to  cherish  and  defend  our 
country,  however  broad,  in  every  peril  when 
the  cause  is  just,  let  us  remember  that  the  great 
promise  of  Christianity  is  the  reign  of  that  pe 
riod  —  God  speed  its  coming !  — when  this  paltry 
eloquence  shall  be  unknown  ;  when  neither  the 
Atlantic  nor  the  Pacific,  the  Arctic  nor  the  In- 
dian Seas,  nor  degrees  of  latitude,  nor  tempera- 
ture of  zone,  nor  race,  nor  color,  nor  creed,  nor 
any  narrow  interest,  nor  conventional  tie,  shall 
break  the  full  flow  of  that  magnetic  sympathy, 
and  fellowship,  and  love,  which  should  unite  the 
hearts  of  brethren  bound  by  one  blood,  children 
of  a  universal  Parent,  heirs  of  a  common  im- 
mortality. 


246 


OUR  COUNTRY,  RIGHT  OR  WRONG. 


LONG  and  loudly  do  we  hear,  at  times,  this 
outcry.  Particularly  clamorous  have  many  voices 
been  with  it,  during  our  strife  with  Mexico. 
Much  ink  has  been  shed  on  paper  devoted  to 
patriotism,  in  proof  that,  whether  saintism  or 
satanism  shall  take  the  lead  in  its  affairs,  right 
or  wrong,  we  must  hold  our  tongues,  and  go  for 
our  country  with  the  majority.  It  is  not  our 
business,  in  this  article,  to  enter  upon  any  argu- 
ment, the  one  side  or  the  other ;  but  simply  to 
register  sentiments  which  others  have  expressed. 
As  we  are  making  an  impress  of  "  our  day  "  in 
these  pages,  we  would  here  preserve  two  da- 
guerreotypes in  them,  one  on  each  side  of  this 
question,  —  "  Our  Country,  Right  or  Wrong." 
They  are  such  complete  embodiments  of  their 
kind,  that  we  wish  to  preserve  them,  both  for 
curiosity  and  instruction.  We  give  the  names 


OUR   COUNTRY,   RIGHT    OR   WRONG.      247 

of  the  authors.  Let  their  words  speak  for  them; 
and,  reader,  judge  ye  which  is  nearest  right. 
Here  speaks  one  side  :  — 


"  OUR  COUNTRY,  RIGHT  OR  WRONG." 

BT  6.  8.  U'.NT,  ESQ. 

"  Our  Country,  right  or  wrong,"  — 

What  manly  hearts  can  doubt 
That  thus  should  swell  the  patriot-song, 

Thus  ring  the  patriot-shout  ? 
Be  but  the  foe  arrayed, 

And  War's  wild  trumpet  blown, 
Cold  were  his  heart  who  has  not  made 

His  country's  cause  his  own. 

Though  faction  rule  the  halls 

Where  nobler  thoughts  have  swayed, 
One  sacred  voice  for  ever  calls 

The  patriot-heart  and  blade ! 
He,  at  his  country's  name, 

Feels  every  pulse  beat  high ; 
Wreaths  round  her  glory  all  his  fame, 

And  loves  for  her  to  die  ! 

Where'er  her  flag  unrolled 

Waves  the  saluting  breeze, 
Flings  o'er  the  plain  its  starry  fold, 

Or  floats  on  stormy  seas,  — 


248  OUR  DAT. 

All  dearest  things  are  there, 
All  that  makes  life  divine,  — 

Home,  faith,  the  brave,  the  true,  the  fair,  - 
Cling  to  the  flaming  sign. 

Oh !  is  this  thought  a  dream  1 

No !  by  the  gallant  dead 
Who  sleep  by  hill,  and  plain,  and  stream, 

Or  deep  on  ocean's  bed ! 
By  every  sacred  name, 

By  every  glorious  song, 
By  all  we  know  and  love  of  fame, 

"  Our  Country,  right  or  wrong ! " 


And  here  speaks  the  other  :  — 
"  OUR  COUNTRY,  RIGHT  OR  WRONG." 

BT  REV.  8.  D.  BOBBINS. 

Our  Country  is  the  Right,  —  no  soil,  no  clime, 
No  spot  on  earth,  no  period  in  time. 
Where  truth  resides,  with  liberty  and  love, 
There  is  our  father-land,  —  below,  above. 

Disciples  we  of  Christ, —  of  God  the  seed; 
-      Ours  be  the  right,  in  thought,  in  speech,  in  deed. 
To  Truth  alone  allegiance  we  pay ; 
Ours  is  the  light,  our  walk  be  in  the  day. 


OUR   COUNTRY,  RIGHT   OR   WRONG.       249 

Dear  is  the  realm  alone  where  good  abides, 
Where  justice  dwells,  and  equity  presides  ; 
There  is  our  homestead,  —  there  our  altar-place ; 
Our  father,  God ;  our  brotherhood,  the  race. 

He  is  the  patriot,  — noble  only  he 
"Whose  heart  and  hearth-stone  burn  amid  the  free; 
Whose  soul  is  consecrate  to  manhood's  cause, 
Lives  in  the  truth,  and  promulgates  its  laws. 

Our  Country  right,  not  wrong,  be  this  our  boast ; 
That  most  our  Country,  which  to  man  is  most ; 
This  be  our  aim  of  life,  our  theme  of  song, 
Our  Country  shall  be  right,  and  right  the  wrong. 


16 


250 


THE  DIALECT  OF  REFORM. 


BY  REV.   HENRY  BACON. 


WHEN  the  reformer  gives  utterance  to  the 
strong  thoughts  and  deep  feelings  of  his  soul, 
and  brings  out  his  solemn  convictions  to  shame 
the  narrow  prejudices  and  unholy  customs  of 
society,  the  cry  is  made,  "  Be  charitable  !  Oh  ! 
have  charity !  "  To  this  is  added  many  a  plea 
against  the  dialect  of  reform,  as  used  by  those 
who  think  less  of  the  musical  tinkling  of  the 
silver  bells  of  classic  speech,  that  lulls  to  poetical 
dreaminess  over  human  sin  and  sorrow,  than  of 
the  iron  clang  of  the  startling  and  arousing  peal 
that  will  not  let  men  sleep.  We  are  told  that 
we  might  as  well  strike  with  the  sword  as  with 
our  words  ;  and  are  kindly  admonished,  that  we 
shall  never  accomplish  any  thing  for  the  regene- 
ration of  man,  till  we  have  the  spirit  of  Him 
whose  symbol,  at  his  baptism,  was  not  a  vulture 
or  an  eagle,  but  a  dove. 

We  willingly  receive  this  caution ;  and,  in  our 


THE  DIALECT  OF  REFORM.      251 

charity,  will  neither  impugn  the  motives  nor  ques- 
tion the  intelligence  of  those  who  offer  this  counsel. 
We  admit  that  the  dialect  of  reform  is  an 
important  matter.  "  The  preacher  sought  to 
find  out  acceptable  words,"  —  words  that  would 
express  his  thoughts,  without  unnecessarily  awak- 
ening passion.  "  He  did  this,  —  he  exercised  this 
carefulness,  —  because  of  the  imperfection  of  the 
best  chosen  language  to  give  the  true  embodi- 
ment to  thought,  and  the  difficulty  of  securing  a 
right  apprehension  of  the  ideas  of  his  mind ; 
the  prejudices  and  interests  which,  like  the  old 
and  new  stained  glass  windows  of  a  temple,  give 
different  and  changing  media  to  the  same  light 
that  pours  in  upon  the  worshippers.  He  is 
true  neither  to  his  own  soul,  nor  to  the  souls  of 
others,  who  does  not  imitate  the  preacher  in  this 
respect,  but  is  careless  of  the  costume  of  his 
thoughts,  and  willing  to  play  the  harlequin  on 
the  stage  of  reform.  It  is  wrong,  we  admit,  to 
speak  more  to  show  how  strongly  we  feel  upon  a 
subject,  than  to  convince  others  of  error  and  sin  ; 
to  preach  ourselves,  rather  than  the  truth  we  pro- 
pose to  propagate.  If  the  farmer  must  sow  seed 
when  the  winds  are  let  loose,  he  should,  and,  if  he 
be  wise,  he  will  do  it ;  but  he  would  certainly  be 
foolish  to  try  to  raise  the  wind,  to  sweep  over 
the  field  to  be  sown.  Some  do  this:  they  use 


OUK   DAY. 

the  language  of  irritation  and  accusation,  in 
order  to  create  passionate  feeling,  or,  as  they 
say,  "  to  get  the  people  awake  ;  "  and  then 
they  think  they  can  utter  the  sober  truth  with 
better  effect  We  think  they  do  not  judge 
human  nature  aright.  Like  a  careless  surgeon, 
feeling  round  a  wound,  they  excite  an  irritation 
that  must  modify  the  action  of  the  remedial 
agent  afterwards  employed.  Paul  indeed  charged 
his  spiritual  son  to  rebuke  certain  characters 
"sharply;"  but  here  he  employed  a  metaphor 
taken  from  a  surgical  operation,  where  there  is  a 
necessity  for  probing  deep  and  cutting  keenly ; 
and  this  is  the  best  illustration  of  the  true  wis- 
dom. How  carefully  the  surgeon  examines  the 
evil  to  be  remedied !  how  cautiously  he  selects 
his  instruments  !  how  studiously  he  aims  to  com- 
prehend all  the  ulterior  effects  of  the  operation, 
and  the  best  method  of  combining  quickness  of 
action  with  complete  success !  And  then,  when 
he  proceeds  to  his  repulsive  labor,  the  quickness 
of  movement,  the  calm,  cool  perseverance, — 
notwithstanding  the  cries  and  screams,  and  the 
deadly  paleness,  of  the  subject  upon  whom  the 
operation  is  performed,  —  are  only  the  results  of 
due  preparation,  of  perfect  confidence  in  the 
chosen  means,  of  a  desire  to  succeed,  and  of 
intentness  upon  the  end  kept  in  view.  "Who 


THE    DIALECT    OF   REFORM.  253 

would  think  of  crying  out  to  a  surgeon  thus 
employed,  "  Oh !  be  charitable  !  Do  have  some 
mercy  about  you ! "  He  now  might  give  the 
wonderful  gas,  and  thus  deaden  feeling,  but  the 
reformer  has  no  such  gas  to  give  ;  and  if  he  had, 
he  would  not  consent  to  give  it,  for  he  wants  to 
deal  with  mind  in  its  most  active  and  impressible 
state.  Like  the  Saviour,  he  refuses  to  take  the 
stupefying  draught;  for  he  will  "endure  the 
cross,"  and  he  will  not  give  it  to  another,  in 
the  enlarged  charity  of  one  whose  love  of  hu- 
manity reaches  out  to  compass  the  great  and 
permanent  interests  of  the  race,  he  will  endure 
the  cross,  "  despising  the  shame ; "  and  others 
must  do  the  same,  or  never  find  the  moral  change 
which  is  essential  to  true  excellence. 

"We  own  the  reaction  of  our  speech  upon 
ourselves ;  subtle,  unconscious,  but  real  and 
enduring.  On  this  ground  it  is  we  assert,  that 
earnest  thought  must  have  earnest  language; 
and  earnestness  may  be  as  majestic  and  towering 
in  a  moral  cause,  as  in  a  martial.  It  was  said  of 
Napoleon  that  he  was  "  organized  victory : "  we 
want  the  dialect  of  reform  to  possess  the  same 
victorious  qualities,  with  infinitely  better  results. 
We  want  to  use  the  dialect  of  war,  as  Paul  did ; 
for  life  "  is  a  battle  and  a  march."  "We  want  to 
make  the  spirit  of  man  as  exultant,  when  a  hope 


254  OUR   DAT. 

of  success  is  given  to  encourage  reformatory 
labor,  as  when  the  trumpets  thrill  the  souls  of 
armed  hosts  with  notes  of  triumph  and  conquest. 
This  may  be.  "  Deep  calleth  unto  deep  "  in  the 
moral  world,  and  must  be  answered.  It  is  the 
mere  "  murdering  to  dissect,"  —  the  Burking  of 
literature,  —  that  tells  us,  it  is  horrid  to  say  with 
the  poet,  — 

"  On  the  nation's  naked  heart 

Scatter  the  living  coals  of  truth  j  " 

but  we  quote  that  as  the  expression  of  deep  and 
strong  emotion,  which  springs  from  a  solemn 
conviction  that  there  is  all  around  us  much  dead- 
ness  of  heart,  which  cannot  be  removed  but  by  a 
burning  process. 

What,  then,  is  this  plea  for  charity?  We 
answer,  first,  that  charity  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  nature  or  attributes  of  truth.  It  enters  into 
definition  only  so  far  as  the  spirit  with  which 
inquiry  should  be  made  is  concerned.  "  He 
that  loveth  not,  knoweth  not  God."  Love  is  the 
grand  medium  of  knowledge,  as  the  purer  the  at- 
mosphere, the  more  can  we  see  of  the  heavens. 
But  yet  truth  is  truth :  the  spirit  of  love  and  of 
wrath  cannot  alter  it.  Intemperance,  war,  sla- 
very, licentiousness,  tyranny  over  thought  and 
action,  the  oppression  of  the  poor,  and  all  the 


THE  DIALECT  OF  REFORM.       255 

moral  evils  that  may  follow  in  this  category, 
cannot  be  altered  by  the  blandest  smile  of  char- 
ity. "Charity,"  says  Paul,  "rejoiceth  not  in 
iniquity,  but  rejoiceth  in  the  truth ; "  and  she 
must  show  it.  She  lifts  up  no  distorting  medium, 
but  the  plain  mirror  of  God,  and  says,  "  Look 
and  see ! " 

The  common  remarks  in  reference  to  charity, 
in  connection  with  the  dialect  of  reform,  arise 
from  a  false  view  of  charity.  It  is  made  a  nar- 
row, sectional  thing,  or  not  an  ever-broadening 
principle.  The  Saviour  defined  it  when  he  said, 
"If  a  man  love  father  or  mother,  sister  or 
brother,  more  than  me,  he  is  not  worthy  of  me ; 
and  if  he  take  not  up  his  cross  and  follow  me,  he 
cannot  be  my  disciple."  He  did  not  strike 
against  any  duty  to  the  affections.  No  ;  for  in 
following  Jesus,  though  it  caused  many  social 
and  domestic  antagonisms,  the  disciple  would  be 
more  charitable  than  in  yielding  to  the  partial 
claims  of  sectional  love.  We  want  the  great 
principle  of  Christian  charity,  that  makes  a  man 
so  love  in  the  nearest  circle,  that  the  widening 
of  his  charity  may  be  perfect  in  its  action.  We 
want  the  principle  of  the  thing  —  that  which 
underlies  all  just  and  true  action  —  that,  when 
we  act  from  impulse,  or  amid  excitement,  the 
pleadings  of  friendship,  and  the  demands  of 


256  OUE   DAY. 

the  dearest  of  home,  we  may  act  wisely  ;  and  be 
as  faithful  to  Christian  charity,  when  our  whole 
being  is  concentrated  in  the  strong  utterance  of 
the  truth,  as  when  we  write  in  the  quietness 
of  perfect  solitude.  We  shall  then  speak  right 
on,  as  flows  the  stream  which  has  received  such 
guides  as  make  its  whole  force  fall  upon  the 
whirling  wheel  that  moves  the  intricate  machin- 
ery of  industrial  life  in  the  factory.  We  want 
charity  for  the  great  interests  of  man,  too  en- 
larged to  be  contracted  to  sectional  feeling,  —  a 
charity  such  as  is  demanded  of  the  true  minister 
of  Christ,  who  will  "  not  shun  to  declare  all  the 
counsel  of  God  ; "  no,  not  to  palliate  any  private 
feeling  of  offence  that  may  be  awakened  by  his 
touching  on  some  peculiar  or  particular  sins. 
Cry  to  the  pulpit,  "Be  charitable,"  and  the 
answer  shall  come,  if  Christ's  servant  is  there, 
"  Charity  does  not  compromise  the  truth.  It 
cannot  alter  a  feature  of  her  stern  and  awful 
countenance,  majestic  as  the  front  of  love." 

How  has  it  been  with  every  real  advance 
made  by  man  ?  Has  not  reform  been  met  by 
this  plea,  that  asks  for  a  mere  morbid  charity,  — 
a  charity  which  pales  and  sickens  before  the 
momentary  evils  occasioned  by  the  "  new  move- 
ment "  against  error  and  sin  ?  And  this,  too, 
comes  from  those  who  accuse  us  of  having 


THE   DIALECT    OF   EEFOEJI.  257 

only  morbid  sympathy,  sighing  over  the  criminal 
in  forgetfulness  of  the  great  and  permanent 
interests  of  society  and  man.  The  witnesses 
against  Christ  never  agree  together;  and  too 
often  now,  Barabbas  is  chosen  instead  of  the 
Anointed.  "We  take  the  principle  on  which 
the  noble  souls  of  the  past  have  sacrificed  all 
that  was  dear  to  the  individual,  in  devotion  to 
the  interests  of  the  race.  Why  has  the  world 
applauded  the  patriot  so  long  and  loud?  Be- 
cause he  takes  his  life  in  his  hand,  and  absorbing 
all  lesser  loves  in  the  one  great  affection  for  his 
country,  he  places  himself  in  the  passes  of  lib- 
erty, and  defends  them  to  the  last.  Thus  have 
died  the  martyrs  to  truth.  Decision  and  charity, 
of  the  true  metal,  were  blended  in  the  gold  of 
their  character.  And,  like  them,  must  we  go 
forth,  if  we  would  be  faithful.  If,  on  the  one 
side,  stand  our  friends,  with  supplicating  looks, 
and  even  tears ;  and  on  the  other,  Christ,  —  if 
he  moves  forward,  we  must  follow,  though  never 
so  piteous  are  the  pleadings  that  would  restrain, 
—  that  would  take  us  from  the  excitement,  as  the 
mother  and  brethren  of  Jesus  once  sought  to 
draw  him  from  the  crowd  to  his  home.  Like 
Peter,  we  must  step  forth,  as  though  the  waters 
were,  as  they  will  become,  like  the  marble  pave- 
ment beneath  our  feet.  While  we  look  on  Christ, 


258  OUR  DAY. 

we  are  safe ;  but  if  we  turn  to  the  waves  around, 
the  sense  will  appall  the  soul,  and  we  are  gone  ! 
God  help  us. 

"Speaking  the  truth"  —  that  is  the  essential 
decision ;  " speaking  the  truth  in  love"  —  that  is 
the  essential  charity,  —  the  charity  that  belongs 
to  the  whole  being,  and  all  that  is  done.  It  is 
the  spirit  which  moulds  and  tempers  all  the 
mind  touches.  It  is  a  deep  consciousness  of 
the  relationship  which  exists  between  all  spirits, 
and  a  sense  of  responsibility  so  to  act  as  to  pro- 
mote the  great  interests  of  human  brotherhood, 
even,  if  in  its  efforts  to  exorcise  a  vile  spirit,  the 
miserable  subject  may  be  rent  and  torn  in  the 
struggle. 


259 


1  THY  KINGDOM  COME." 

BY  MBS.  S.  C.  E.  MAYO. 

WHEN  Man  his  brother  shall  no  longer  slay ; 

When  chains  no  more  shall  bind  the  bleeding  slave ; 
When  legal  Murder,  curst  and  past  away, 

No  more  shall  hollow  the  untimely  grave ; 
When  Love,  and  not  Kevenge,  shall  deal  with  Crime  ; 

When  Spirit  shall  be  lord,  in  place  of  Sense ; 
When  Man  shall  not  be  bound  to  Earth  and  Time, 

Making  his  gods  of  shillings  and  of  pence; 
When  Love,  and  Peace,  and  Equity,  shall  reign, 

And  none  shall  starve  while  some  are  richly  fed ; 
When  one  man  shall  not  hoard  his  wealth  of  grain, 

And  see  his  neighbor  die  for  want  of  bread ; 
When  Earth  for  every  man  has  hearth  and  home,— 
Then,  not  till  then,  God,  will  thy  Kingdom  come ! 


THE  IDOLATRY  OP  PARTY. 


BT  EEV.  E.  3.  CHAPIS. 


IT  is  with  any  reform,  as  with  the  Chris- 
tianity from  which  it  issues  —  its  nominal  disci- 
ples far  outnumber  its  real  friends.  In  a  calm 
season  many  will  profess  allegiance  to  it,  who 
abandon  it  in  the  hour  of  need.  They  can  make 
a  thousand  ideal  sacrifices,  but  cannot  surrender 
one  solid  interest.  They  profess  great  love  for 
principles,  but  are  devout  adherents  of  policy. 
They  will  organize,  sign,  declaim  ;  but,  the  mo- 
ment there  comes  a  test,  these  lip-martyrs  exer- 
cise that  discretion  which  is  the  better  part  of 
valor.  Perhaps  nothing  so  plainly  exposes  the 
worthlessness  of  all  these  pretensions,  as  the 
touchstone  of  party.  One  of  those  great  political 
excitements  which  periodically  sweep  through 
our  country,  will  work  marvellous  transforma- 
tions. The  professed  temperance  man  becomes 
amalgamated  with  the  zealous  "rummy,"  and 
winks  at  "hard  cider."  Our  quondam  anti- 


THE  IDOLATRY  OF  PARTY.       261 

slavery  friend  works  with  all  his  might  for  "  the 
available  "  slaveholder.  And  the  honeyed  advo- 
cate of  peace  now  exhausts  his  rhetoric  to  cele- 
brate the  praises,  and  urge  the  claims,  of  the 
soldier  and  the  hero.  Really,  one  would  think 
this  moral  labor-field  a  mere  ball-room,  so  lightly 
are  these  masks  laid  aside,  so  quickly  is  the  new 
set  formed,  so  oddly  are  old  faces  jumbled  to- 
gether, and  so  adroit  are  the  crossings  and  skip- 
pings  in  search  of  new  partners. 

To  speak  seriously,  there  can  be  no  breadth 
of  principle,  no  spiritual  earnestness,  in  those 
who  make  a  moral  question  secondary  to  a  mere 
party  issue.  Parties  acquire  their  value  and 
authority  as  the  instruments  of  great  purposes. 
Certain  results,  which  could  not  be  attained  by 
violent  effort,  are  secured  by  their  united  action. 
Men  waive  secondary  issues  in  order  to  insure 
union  on  some  primary  interest. 

But  moral  principles  can  never  be  made  sec- 
ondary. Individual  responsibility  cannot  be 
dissolved  in  the  action  of  the  mass.  It  is  true 
that  all  great  reforms  are  accomplished  by  de- 
grees, and  sometimes  one  right  must  be  post- 
poned until  another  is  secured ;  but  that  post- 
ponement is  simply  action  upon  a  consistent 
line  of  advancement.  It  is  intended  to  secure 
ultimately  the  thing  postponed.  But,  in  the 


262  OUR   DAT. 

party  idolatry  of  our  day,  these  primary  facts 
are  lost  sight  of.  There  is  in  "  the  party"  a  talis- 
man, a  mysterious  power,  to  which  men  render 
an  allegiance  that  nullifies  every  other  claim. 
Around  that  they  rally,  and  for  it  moral  scruples 
are  thrown  off  and  tossed  aside,  locked  up  in 
iron  safes,  smothered  in  bags  of  cotton.  The 
party  is  an  end,  instead  of  an  instrument.  It  ab- 
sorbs or  repudiates  the  principles  by  which  alone 
it  can  legitimately  exist. 

Sometimes  there  comes  before  the  country  a 
question  deep  as  the  heart  of  humanity,  and 
broad  as  the  law  of  God.  Your  partisan  allows 
that  it  is  a  great  question,  it  involves  important 
interests,  and  he  earnestly  sympathizes  with  it. 
But  then  its  agitation  at  the  present  time  would 
divide  "  the  party."  It  is  outside  the  objects  for 
which  "  the  party "  was  organized,  and  which  it 
has  always  maintained.  So  this  plea  must  pre- 
clude the  great  question ;  and  "  the  party,"  east 
and  west,  north  and  south,  being  placated  and 
kept  together,  secures  some  interests  of  revenue 
or  territory,  of  loaves  and  fishes,  which  are 
styled  "democratic  principles,"  or  "whig  pol- 
icy," or  "  constitutional  rights,"  but  which  dwin- 
dle to  little  or  nothing  beside  the  great  issue 
which  has  thus  been  postponed. 

This  should  not  be  so.     If  "  the  party"  has 


THE  IDOLATRY  OP  PARTY.       263 

not  virtue  enough  to  carry  a  great  principle  to 
its  climax,  let  it  split  asunder ;  and  from  the 
scattered  fragments  let  a  new  organization  arise, 
which  will  be  true  to  those  great  ideas  which 
alone  can  authorize  or  dignify  a  party.  As  it  is, 
"  the  party  "  has  no  longer  a  right  to  exist.  It 
is  held  together  by  an  unholy  compromise  which 
cannot  last  long  at  the  farthest,  but  which,  while 
it  lasts,  perplexes  and  betrays  the  great  cause  of 
human  progress,  of  truth  and  righteousness. 

But  the  partisan  says,  — "  Your  great  ques- 
tion is  an  abstract  one,  and  should  not  be  intro- 
duced into  the  political  action  of  the  times." 
Truly,  one  has  almost  reason  to  be  afraid  of 
these  abstract  questions!  There  is  a  mystery 
about  them.  The  bare  mention  of  them  is 
deemed  a  spell  sufficient  to  allay  the  wildest 
spirit  of  agitation  and  reform.  If  we  plead  in 
behalf  of  some  violated  right ;  if  we  rebuke  some 
false  institution  with  which  the  pecuniary  inter- 
ests of  a  large  number  are  bound  up;  if  we 
speak  of  the  iron  that  fetters  the  limbs  and  eats 
into  the  very  souls  of  men,  we  are  reminded  by 
the  shrewd  and  practical,  that  we  are  meddling 
with  an  "  abstract  question."  If,  in  the  eager 
strife  of  selfishness,  and  amid  the  immoralities  of 
conventionalism,  somebody  evinces  an  unusual 
scruple  of  conscience,  it  is  said  that  he  is  "  crazed 


264  OUR   DAT. 

about  abstractions"  If  we  seek  to  pour  into  the 
forms  of  political  action  the  life  of  Christian 
principle ;  if  we  tell  men  that  the  law  of  right- 
eousness is  incumbent  upon  them  at  all  times ; 
that  they  possess  a  solemn  individuality  which  no 
party  connections  can  cancel ;  if  we  remind 
them  that  they  cannot  serve  God  and  mammon  ; 
yea,  if  we  entreat  them  to  be  consistent  with 
their  own  great  professions,  we  are  told,  "  the 
introduction  of  abstract  questions  is  foreign  to 
the  objects  of  the  party  " ! 

A  question  of  right  is  never  untimely.  The 
rule  of  duty  is  not  an  abstraction ;  or,  if  so,  it  is 
because  men  suffer  it  to  remain  unexercised. 

But  the  partisan  tells  us  again,  that  the  ques- 
tion to  which  we  invite  his  attention  "  is  a  very 
exciting  one,  and  will  only  offend  and  irritate." 
Perhaps  there  is  no  excuse  for  delay  and  com- 
promise more  common  than  this.  Its  common- 
ness makes  it  a  suspicious  and  false  plea.  It  is 
employed  to  prevent  the  agitation  of  any  princi- 
ple that  assails  the  cherished  sins,  or  interferes 
with  the  selfish  interests,  of  individuals  or  of 
classes.  The  fact  is,  every  truth  is  offensive  and 
irritating  to  some.  No  right  can  be  embodied 
and  become  practical,  without  conflicting  with 
some  wrong.  It  is  the  tendency  of  truth  to  pro- 
duce agitation.  It  is  always  a  drawn  sword. 


THE  IDOLATKY  OF  PABTY.       265 

There  is  no  plea  against  the  introduction  of  a 
great  principle,  more  fallacious  than  the  argument 
that  it  will  produce  excitement.  If  it  is  a  prin- 
ciple applicable  to  the  times,  it  must  cause  an 
excitement,  and  be  introduced  at  an  exciting 
moment.  If  not  applicable  to  the  times,  or  to 
any  existing  evil,  then,  to  be  sure,  it  will  not 
produce  any  excitement ;  but  then  it  need  not  be 
introduced  at  alL 

But  enough  of  these  evasions.  Those  to 
which  I  have  alluded,  sufficiently  indicate  the 
evil  I  complain  of.  The  idolatry  of  party 
is  an  obstacle  which  the  reformer  meets  at 
every  step.  It  is  an  evil,  than  which  no  other 
more  loudly  calls  for  reformation.  I  do  not 
plead  for  the  dissolution  of  any  party  ties  that 
do  not  conflict  with  conscience.  But  there 
should  be  a  solemn  league  and  covenant  of  all 
true  men,  that  in  all  relations  they  will  abide  by 
the  good  and  the  right.  The  southerner  clings 
to  the  institution  of  slavery;  and  for  that,  if 
need  be,  casts  aside  the  harness  of  all  party,  and 
rallies  around  a  common  centre.  The  consis- 
tency thus  evinced  in  a  bad  cause  should  be 
cherished  in  behalf  of  righteousness.  Party 
should  ever  be  held  secondary  to  principle  ;  and 
if  it  thwarts  and  opposes  principle,  let  it  break 
in  pieces  like  Dagon  before  the  ark  of  God. 
17 


266 


GOD'S  LAW :  MAN'S  INTERPRETATION 
OF  IT. 

BY  8.  S.  COCES,  ESQ. 

"  Thou  shalt  not  kill  "  —  without  profit  or  advantage  to  thyself. 

"  THOU  shalt  not  kill "  is  the  law  of  God. 
The  words  are  plain,  direct,  and  intelligible. 
There  is  no  limit  or  qualification  to  the  prohi- 
bition. Human  life  is  sacred,  inviolable,  and 
never  to  be  taken.  But,  while  there  are  a  few 
fanatics  who  give  to  the  law  its  literal  meaning, 
the  world,  in  its  wisdom,  qualifies  it;  so  as  to 
obey  God,  and  yet  take  life,  whenever  profit  or 
advantage  is  to  be  derived  from  the  slaughter. 

This  is  the  reasoning  :  Our  lives  would  not  be 
safe,  were  not  the  assassin  and  the  murderer 
destroyed ;  nor  could  our  rights,  our  privileges, 
our  happiness,  be  protected  without  the  sword. 
Law  must  be  enforced  by  the  life-taking  power 
which  government  wields.  Our  welfare,  both  as 
individuals  and  as  members  of  the  body  politic, 


GOD'S  LAW:  MAN'S  INTERPRETATION.     267 

demands  of  us  that  we  kill.  God  permits  homi- 
cide, therefore,  because  of  its  profit  or  advantage. 
He  forbids  only  wanton,  unnecessary  murder. 
His  law,  therefore,  must  be  read  with  a  reserva- 
tion of  the  right  to  kill,  so  far  as  the  killing  is 
necessary,  expedient,  or  advantageous. 

Thus  understood,  it  is  a  law  most  easily 
obeyed.  It  exacts  no  self-sacrifice.  It  permits 
the  world  to  pass  on,  undisturbed,  in  its  blood- 
stained path.  A  young  man  may  enter  the 
army,  and,  with  a  satisfied  conscience,  swear 
that  he  will  do  his  duty,  —  though  that  duty  will 
be  to  kill,  wherever  and  whenever  he  is  com- 
manded to  kill.  In  other  words,  his  profession 
calls  on  him  to  make  himself  useful  in  human 
butchery,  and  this  he  can  most  innocently  do  ;  for 
a  soldier  is  a  man  hired  to  kill  for  the  good  of  his 
country.  He  may  go  to  Mexico,  to  the  attack 
of  Vera  Cruz ;  and  there  most  deliberately  and 
skilfully  direct  a  cannon  against  the  city,  and 
exult  and  thank  God  when  his  shot  has  been 
successful ;  even  though  the  ball  cut  in  twain  a 
woman,  and  tear  off"  the  limbs  of  the  child 
clinging  to  her  bosom;  the  mother  dying  in- 
stantly, her  little  boy  bleeding  slowly  to  death, — 
his  head  upon  the  crushed  flesh  of  his  mother, 
wailing  in  agony  until  death  come  to  his  relief. 

God  forbade  not  this  killing.    It  was  deemed 


268  OUR    DAY. 

necessary,  and  is,  of  course,  justifiable.  No 
war,  offensive  or  defensive,  can  be  carried  on 
without  killing  the  innocent.  The  very  intent 
of  war  is  to  kill  all  whom  it  may  be  necessary  to 
kill,  in  gaining  the  proposed  advantage.  If  any 
fighting  be  right,  there  must  be  soldiers  ready 
for  pay,  rations,  and  glory,  to  kill,  when  ordered 
to  kill.  The  profession  of  the  soldier  is  most 
devilish  and  fiend-like,  if  he  may  not  innocently 
kill,  whenever  they  who  command  deem  the 
slaughter  to  be  advantageous. 

A  short  time  after  the  capture  of  the  city  of 
Vera  Cruz,  a  soldier  killed  a  Mexican  woman. 
He  killed  without  orders,  unnecessarily.  He  is 
a  murderer.  He  cannot  plead  an  advantage 
from  the  slaughter.  Now  comes  in  the  mercy 
of  the  world ;  its  hatred  of  homicide,  —  its  up- 
holding the  laws  of  God !  Blood  for  blood ;  the 
penalty  is  exacted ;  and  the  officer  who  killed 
the  woman  and  child  shall  superintend  the  exe- 
cution of  the  murderer.  Again  have  we  pro- 
fitable homicide  !  The  fate  of  the  executed 
man  will  be  a  warning  to  others ;  and  Mexican 
women  shall  not  be  again  killed,  until  there  is  an 
advantage  from  their  deaths. 

It  has  been  said,  that  there  was  slaughter  by 
our  soldiers  in  the  streets  of  Monterey,  after  its 
capture,  when  the  advantage  from  killing  had 


GOD'S  LAW:  MAN'S  INTERPRETATION.    269 

ceased.  I  know  not  whether  it  be  true :  if  not 
true,  Monterey  escaped  the  fate  common  to  cities 
taken  by  storm  after  a  long  straggle.  If  there 
were  bloodshed  after  the  battle  was  over,  it  was 
justifiable,  as  the  necessary  consequence  of  the 
advantageous  murder  committed  in  capturing  the 
city.  Men  become  reckless  and  ferocious,  when 
for  a  long  time  they  have  breathed  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  carnage  ;  when  for  days  they  have 
exerted  every  faculty,  and  strained  every  nerve, 
for  slaughter.  The  desire  to  kill  stops  not  sud- 
denly ;  their  blood  cools  not  down  at  the  tap 
of  the  drum ;  La  the  flush  of  conquest,  they 
become  not,  at  the  word  of  command,  merciful, 
blood-hating  men ;  and  some  will  pass  over  the 
line  which  limits  necessary  murder,  and  most 
innocently,  too ! 

The  excess  of  murder,  committed  after  the 
carrying  of  a  city  by  storm,  may  be  fully  justified 
on  the  ground  of  its  utility.  It  will  animate  the 
attack  of  the  next  city,  and  discourage  its  de- 
fenders. We  read  hi  the  papers,  that  the  city  of 
Mexico  will  not  be  defended ;  for  the  inhabitants 
will  recollect  the  fate  of  Monterey  and  Yera 
Cruz,  and  open  their  gates  to  our  army ;  and 
thus  excess  of  murder  may  prevent  future  blood- 
shed! 

There  is  a  recruiting  officer  in  the  city  of 


270  OUR   DAT. 

Boston.  He  gathers  from  the  poor,  the  igno- 
rant, the  friendless,  his  full  company  of  men,  — 
one-half  of  whom  are  doomed  to  death,  —  are 
doomed  to  be  killed  in  the  attempt  to  kill  the 
enemy.  It  is  justifiable,  because  our  govern- 
ment deems  their  exposure  to  death  to  be  advan- 
tageous to  the  country. 

Thus  it  appears  that  we  may  kill  innocently, 
whenever  killing  is  profitable  or  advantageous. 
"We  may  kill  the  soldiers  of  the  enemy,  their 
women,  and  children.  "We  may  kill  them  in 
battle,  or  after  the  battle.  We  may  kill  our  own 
citizens ;  —  doom  them  to  death.  "We  may  also 
kill  the  murderer,  or  kill  a  soldier  who  refuses 
to  kill,  when  commanded  to  do  his  duty.  We  may 
kill  the  innocent  or  the  guilty,  with  this  condition 
only,  that  the  slaughter  be  deemed  profitable  or 
advantageous. 

Thou  shalt  not  kill,  without  profit  or  advan- 
tage to  thyself.  Such  is  the  understanding  of 
the  law,  as  manifested  by  the  conduct  of  those 
who  take  life,  or  of  those  who  uphold  the  taking 
of  life.  It  seems  almost  impossible,  that  men 
should  dare  thus  to  interpret  the  law  of  God ; 
that  they  should  offer,  as  an  apology  for  ho- 
micide, its  advantage  to  themselves.  Consi- 
der it:  the  very  apology  is  an  abrogation  of 
the  law ;  it  takes  from  it  all  restraining  power ; 


GOD'S  LAW:  MAN'S  INTERPRETATION.    271 

this  very  apology  constitutes  homicide  a  crime ; 
this  very  apology  is  an  admission  of  guilt,  for  it 
is  the  motive  of  the  assassin,  whose  bitter  selfish- 
ness nerves  his  arm  to  strike  the  fatal  blow. 
Nay,  the  murder  prompted  by  passion  is  far  less 
criminal,  than  murder  deliberately  committed  on 
the  ground  that  there  is  gain  from  the  deed. 


272 


"THY  KINGDOM  COME." 

BY  BEV.  W.  P.  TELDEN. 

So  prays  the  Christian  world,  morning  and 
evening,  —  "  Thy  kingdom  come."  So  prayed 
the  Jews,  of  old,  before  the  advent  of  the  Re- 
deemer. Indeed,  so  scrupulous  were  they  in  the 
use  of  words,  as  to  declare  that  "  he  prays  not 
at  all,  in  whose  prayer  there  is  no  mention  made 
of  the  kingdom  of  God."  Hence  they  were  ac- 
customed to  say,  "Let  him  cause  his  kingdom 
to  reign,  and  his  redemption  to  flourish;  and 
let  the  Messiah  speedily  come,  and  deliver  his 
people." 

But,  when  the  prayer  was  answered,  and  the 
Messiah  came,  they  nailed  him  to  the  cross. 

They  knew  not  for  what  they  prayed.  For, 
though  their  prophets  had  announced  the  true 
Messiah  as  the  Prince  of  peace,  —  in  whose 
reign  swords  should  be  beaten  into  ploughshares, 
and  spears  into  pruning-hooks,  —  yet,  as  they 
could  not  comprehend  how  a  "  kingdom,"  even  of 


"THY  KINGDOM   COME."  273 

heaven,  could  be  established  without  the  sword, 
and  as  they  thought,  verily,  they  were  God's 
peculiar  people,  and  should  be  distinguished  by 
temporal  aggrandisements,  they  felt  sure  —  tak- 
ing counsel  of  passion  and  prejudice,  rather  than 
God's  prophetic  word  —  that  their  Redeemer 
would  come  clothed  with  earthly  power  and  roy- 
alty, and,  sitting  upon  a  Jewish  throne,  "  con- 
quer a  peace  "  for  Israel,  by  the  destruction  or 
subjugation  of  all  her  enemies. 

The  result  is  known.  She  took  the  sword, 
and  perished  by  the  sword;  praying  all  the 
while,  with  scrupulous  fidelity,  "  Let  the  Messiah 
come." 

The  moral  blindness  and  stubborn  prejudice 
of  these  poor  Jews  is  a  frequent  theme  of  lamen- 
tation in  our  churches  ;  and  earnest  prayers  are 
offered,  that  the  outcast  "remnant  of  Israel" 
may  be  restored.  'Tis  well.  The  true  heart 
ever  prays  for  all.  But  is  the  solemn  admoni- 
tion of  the  national  destruction  of  that  heaven- 
favored  people  heeded  ?  Has  Christendom  yet 
learned  that  •'  Scripture-lesson  "  she  has  read  so 
often,  of  a  rejected  and  crucified  Saviour  ? 

Her  deeds  must  answer. 

She  prays,  "  Thy  kingdom  come ; "  but  does 
she  know  for  what  she  prays  ?  Has  she  learned 
the  nature  of  that  kingdom  at  the  feet  of  its 


274  OUR   DAT. 

"born  king"?  Does  she  know  that  his  king- 
dom is  not  of  this  world ;  —  in  the  world,  but 
not  of  it ;  —  that  it  has  no  fellowship  with  the 
spirit  of  violence,  and  bloodshed,  and  oppression, 
that  distinguish  the  kingdoms  of  this  world ; 
that  it  is  a  kingdom  of  peace,  and  love,  and 
brotherhood,  in  which  evil  must  be  overcome 
with  good,  and  none  be  left  to  hurt  or  destroy  ? 
Is  it  for  such  a  kingdom  that  Christendom  is  now 
praying  and  laboring  ? 

The  answer  comes  in  the  wail  of  three  millions 
of  God's  children,  who,  in  our  own  professedly 
Christian  land,  are  crushed  beneath  the  iron 
yoke  of  slavery.  It  comes  from  the  hundred 
thousand  new-born  infants,  that  every  year  are 
systematically,  legally,  and  religiously  plun- 
dered of  their  birth-right,  and  imbruted.  It 
comes  from  the  battle-field,  where  Christian 
nations  — "  armed  and  equipped  as  the  law  " 
and  the  religion  of  the  land  "  directs,"  with  pow- 
der and  balls  for  the  body,  and  chaplains  and 
bibles  for  the  soul  —  go  forth  for  the  wholesale, 
premeditated  murder  of  those  whom  Christ  has 
bidden  them  to  love. 

Alas !  what  meaning  does  the  Christian  slave- 
holder, or  his  apologist,  attach  to  the  phrase 
"  kingdom  of  God,"  when  he  repeats  the  prayer 
of  him  whom  he  calls  "  Lord  and  Master  "  ? 


"THY  KINGDOM  COME."  275 

What  idea  has  the  Christian  soldier  of  that 
kingdom,  when,  on  the  eve  of  battle,  he  buckles 
on  his  armor,  grasps  his  death-dealing  weapons, 
and  prays  that  it  may  come  ?  Does  he  deem  it 
the  reign  of  peace  and  brotherhood?  Do  men 
murder  under  the  influence  of  love  ?  —  avenge 
in  the  spirit  of  forgiveness  ?  —  ply  the  sword  of 
death  with  the  hand,  while  fraternal  love  is 
throbbing  at  the  heart? 

And  yet  we  shudder  at  the  "rejection  of 
Christ "  by  the  poor,  passion-blinded  Jews  !  But 
how  much  better  are  we,  as  a  nation,  than  they ; 
even  though  in  one  breath  they  could  pray 
devoutly,  "Let  the  Messiah  come,"  and  in  the 
next  shout,  with  the  reckless  and  infuriated  mob, 
"  Away  with  him !  Crucify  him  !  crucify  him ! "  ? 
They  crucified  his  body  ;  we,  his  principles. 
They  thrust  the  spear  into  his  side,  as  his  open 
and  avowed  enemies:  we  trample  in  the  dust 
his  truth,  while  professing  to  be  his  friends. 

That  heavenly  kingdom  which  Christ  lived 
and  died  to  establish  on  earth,  and  for  which  he 
taught  his  followers  to  pray  and  labor,  will  come 
only  as  the  "  heart's  sincere  desire "  goes  up  to 
heaven,  in  deeds  as  well  as  words. 

God  is  ever  ready  to  bestow,  when  man  is 
ready  to  receive. 

But  while  the  prayer  of  the  life  belies  the 


276  OUR  DAT. 

prayer  of  the  lips  ;  while  in  our  daily  walk  and 
conversation  we  conform  to  the  cold  maxims  of 
worldly  policy,  instead  of  the  pure  precepts  of 
Jesus ;  while  we  are  ready  to  avenge  an  injury, 
though  Christ  has  said,  "  Bless  them  that  curse 
you ; "  while  we  can  look  unmoved  upon  human- 
ity, plundered,  wounded,  and  bleeding,  and  pass 
by  on  the  other  side,  still  praying,  "  Thy  king- 
dom come,"  we  surely  need  not  marvel  that  we 
receive  no  "answer  of  peace."  What  are  all 
such  prayers  but  solemn  mockery  ?  We  might 
as  well  plant  nettles  and  thorns,  and  then  pray 
for  a  harvest  of  grapes.  We  might  as  well  go 
to  the  bold  blasphemer,  and  tell  him  that  Jesus 
was  an  impostor,  that  his  pure  precepts  for  a  holy 
life  are  Utopian  folly,  and  then  pray  that  he  might 
be  converted  to  a  living  faith  in  the  Kedeemer. 

If  we  would  offer  "  effectual  prayer "  for  the 
reign  of  truth,  and  love,  and  brotherhood,  on 
earth,  then  we  must  know  for  what  we  pray ; 
and,  in  trusting  faith,  let  voice,  and  hand,  and 
heart,  and  life,  all  supplicate  "Thy  kingdom 
come ! "  Only  such  prayers  are  heard  in 
heaven.  The  blessing  comes  when  the  heart  is 
fitted  for  it.  Even  Divine  Love  could  not  give 
it  sooner.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  within  — 
the  reign  of  Christ's  spirit  in  the  soul.  "  Know 
ye  not  that  Jesus  Christ  is  in  you,  except  ye  be 


"THY  KINGDOM  COME."  277 

reprobate  ?  "  The  prayer  that  opens  the  heart 
to  more  of  his  spirit,  and  baptizes  the  soul  more 
deeply  with  his  love,  is  the  prayer  that  is  "  ef- 
fectual "  to  the  upbuilding  of  the  heavenly  king- 
dom. It  is  only  through  individual  redemption 
that  the  world  can  be  redeemed ;  only  as  the 
kingdom  comes  within,  that  it  can  come  around. 
The  prayer  that  never  finds  the  human  heart, 
will  hardly  find  its  way  to  heaven.  To  our  own 
hearts,  then,  let  us  look  for  the  "  signs  of  his 
coming  "  —  for  the  breaking  of  the  "  day-spring  " 
of  truth  and  love ;  else,  like  the  poor  self-blinded 
Jew,  with  the  prayer,  "Thy  kingdom  come," 
upon  our  lips,  we,  too,  may  crucify  the  Son  of 
God  afresh,  and  fail  of  the  salvation  he  has 
proffered  us. 


278 


SONG  OF  PROPHECY. 

BY  J.  0.  ADAMS. 

Lo,  the  night  receding ! 

Wake,  and  lift  thy  voice ! 
Hail  the  morning,  brother  ; 

In  its  light  rejoice ! 

Good  its  rays  betoken ; 

Wrong  and  ill  retire ; 
Evil  finds  its  victor,  — 

Love's  consuming  fire ! 

Man,  so  long  degraded, 
Fears  no  tyrant's  rod ; 

Finds  in  man  his  brother, 
Father  in  his  God. 

Discord's  murmurs  dying — 
Angels,  men,  upraise 

Earth's  redemption-anthem, 
In  harmonious  praise ! 


279 


A  SERMON  FOR  EVERY-DAI  LIFE. 

FROM   AN    E  VERY-DAY   PULPIT. 

"  As  we  have  therefore  opportunity,  let  us  do  good  unto  all  men." 
St.  PACL. 

IT  is  not  to  do  good  as  we  would  desire,  that 
the  direction  is  given.  The  desire  of  the  truly 
philanthropic  soul  cannot  be  so  easily  answered. 
When  we  read  the  living  story  of  human  ills  and 
wrongs ;  when  we  see  the  weak  basely  rendered 
the  victims  of  spoilers  and  oppressors  ;  the  igno- 
rant sitting  in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death ; 
the  honest  and  trustful  defrauded ;  the  innocent 
betrayed;  the  noble  brought  to  ruin;  the  pure 
corrupted ;  the  godlike  benefactor  scorned  and 
crucified ;  —  when  we  hear  the  cry  of  the  slave 
in  his  chains,  under  the  lash  of  his  master  ;  the 
moaning  of  the  prisoner  hi  his  lone  cell,  where 
none  comes  ever  to  remind  him,  that,  although  a 
sinner,  he  is  still  a  man  ;  —  when  the  great  army 
of  the  poor  raise  their  ragged  banners  as  signals 
for  help,  in  God's  name ;  when  the  victims  of 


280  OUR   DAT. 

intemperance  reel  before  us,  and  we  hear  the 
sad  story  of  their  repeated  plunges  into  the  burn- 
ing gulf,  and  witness  the  tears  and  afflictions, 
worse  than  death,  of  those  who  are  the  innocent 
partakers  of  their  dreadful  guilt  and  shame ;  — 
when  we  see,  too,  selfishness,  avarice,  worldli- 
ness,  driving  in  fury  on  with  eyes,  and  ears,  and 
hearts  closed  against  these  agonizing  sights  and 
sounds,  —  content  to  know  that  so  much  of  im- 
mediate temporal  good  has  been  secured  to  them- 
selves, by  means  whether  honest  or  fraudulent, 
no  matter,  —  let  others  help  that  if  they  can,  so 
long  as  the  ends  of  self  are  answered;  —  when,  I 
say,  all  this  array  of  evil  glares  upon  us  in  its 
hideousness,  from  out  this  great  mass  of  human- 
ity, as  it  strives,  changes,  strives  again,  and  thus 
continually,  the  wrong  against  the  right,  and  the 
right  against  the  wrong; — we  send  up  our 
prayers  for  help  against  these  armed  forces  of 
the  adversary  of  men.  "We  would  have  the  en- 
durance of  Job,  the  strength  of  Samson,  the 
invincibleness  of  Paul,  and  almost  the  miracu- 
lous power  of  his  Master,  that  we  might  say  to 
these  mists  and  this  darkness,  "  Disperse  ! "  — 
to  these  groans,  "  Be  hushed !  "  —  to  these  mis- 
eries, "  Cease  evermore !  " 

True  and  holy  as  are  these  aspirations,  our 
individual  power  and  means  cannot  adequately 


A   SEBMON   FOE   EVEBY-DAT   LIFE.        281 

answer  them.  This  is  doubtless  all  right,  though 
we  are  not  yet  enabled  so  clearly  to  understand 
it,  as  doubtless  in  the  future  we  shall  be.  Our 
limits  of  action  are  prescribed.  We  must  avail 
ourselves  of  our  means.  We  must  "  do  good  as 
we  have  opportunity."  In  the  very  spirit  of 
this  desire  for  the  amelioration  of  our  race,  we 
must  seek  what  we  can  individually  DO  towards 
the  great  end.  To  pray  for  the  accomplishment 
of  the  good,  is  one  thing ;  to  do  what  we  actually 
can  towards  its  attainment,  another.  This  is  one 
of  the  practical  truths  of  our  good  text.  It  calls 
for  our  devotion  and  zeal. 

"As  we  have  opportunity."  We  are  not  to 
consult  mere  convenience  here,  or  mere  impulse. 
To  do  a  good  act  to-day,  because  that  act  may 
be  agreeable  to  our  present  desire,  and  consonant 
with  some  special,  urgent,  or  uncommon  call 
made  upon  us  —  this  is  not  to  answer  the  de- 
mand of  Christianity.  How  and  when  have  we 
opportunity  of  doing  good  ?  This  should  be  our 
leading  inquiry.  And  rightly  to  answer  it  should 
be  the  aim  of  our  life. 

"  Pythagoras,"  says  Lord  Bacon,  "  being  asked 
by  Hiero,  what  he  was,  answered :  If  Hiero  was 
ever  at  the  Olympic  games,  he  knew  the  manner 
that  some  came  to  buy  their  fortunes  for  the 
prizes ;  —  some  as  merchants,  to  utter  their  com- 
18 


282  OUR  DAT. 

modities;  some  to  make  good  cheer,  and  be 
merry,  and  meet  their  friends ;  and  some  came 
to  look  on ;  and  that  he  was  one  of  them  that 
came  to  look  on :  but  men  should  know,  that, 
in  this  theatre  of  man's  life,  it  is  only  for  God 
and  angels  to  be  lookers-on."  But  not  with 
these  higher  and  more  glorious  intelligences  do 
we  connect  the  idea  of  inaction.  God  cannot  be 
passive.  He  ever  labors  in  his  infinite  goodness. 
So  are  his  angels  ministering  spirits  to  those  of 
lesser  strength  and  life,  who  need  their  blessed 
aid.  Swift,  in  one  of  his  noted  fictions,  tells  us 
that  the  arms  of  Lilliput  are  an  angel  lifting  a 
lame  beggar  from  the  earth. 

All  men  have  opportunities  for  doing  good. 
None  can  claim  exemption  here.  We  have  in 
our  stern,  actual  life,  no  apologies  for 

"  The  sluggard  Pity's  vision-weaving  tribe, 
Who  sigh  for  wretchedness,  yet  shun  the  wretched, 
Nursing  in  some  delicious  solitude 
Their  slothful  loves  and  dainty  sympathies ;  " 

Nor  for  those  so  inbound  with  thoughts  of  self, 
and  family,  and  home,  that  they  seldom,  if  ever, 
open  their  ears  to  the  pleading  voices  that  come 
up  to  them  by  the  way-side,  or  turn  at  all  out  of 
their  old  daily  and  long-trodden  paths,  to  know 
what  new  and  fresh  "  luxury  of  doing  good " 
they  may  secure. 


A   SERMON   FOR   EVERT-DAT   LIFE.        283 

We  regard  with  respect,  and  gratitude,  and 
love,  many  of  the  distinguished  philanthropists 
whose  lives  have  blessed  the  world.  This  is 
well.  But  what  if  we  all  made  that  application 
of  means  and  opportunities  which  they  made? 
Should  we  not  now  have  a  better  world  ?  And 
is  not  the  direction  "  to  go  good  and  to  communi- 
cate," universal  ?  Are  not  all  to  labor  as  they 
"  have  opportunity  "  ?  These  examples  should 
be  multiplied.  In  this  actual  work  of  Christian 
grace,  we  should  be  "every  one  helpers  one  of 
another."  We  must  be,  —  or  our  Christianity 
will  not  extend,  and  take  root,  and  flourish,  and 
bless,  as  prophecy  declares  it  will.  The  old 
prophecy  will  be  read,  and  admired,  and  read 
again  ;  but  still  remain  unfulfilled.  Our  millen- 
nium will  still  be  afar  off,  seen  only  in  dreams 
and  visions,  and  brought  no  nearer  by  the  right- 
eous action  of  those  who  sing  most  repeatedly 
and  earnestly, — 

"  Fly  swifter  round,  ye  wheels  of  time, 
And  bring  the  welcome  day." 

The  influences  of  home !  How  ought  these  to 
tell  for  truth  and  righteousness  ?  Mothers ! 
what  lack  your  children  ?  what  lack  you  ?  Not 
of  means,  but  of  the  disposition  to  use  means 
already  at  your  disposal,  for  their  greater  and 


284  OUR   DAT. 

increasing  welfare  and  happiness.  Fathers ! 
what  of  lesser  import  occupies  attention  than 
that  great  work  of  the  moral  rearing  of  your  off- 
spring? Sons,  daughters,  brothers,  sisters,  all 
who  delight  in  the  sweet  and  sacred  influences 
of  home  —  see  what  new  sources  of  instruction, 
blessing,  and  peace,  it  may  be  in  your  power  to 
open  within  this  consecrated  place.  Be  true  to 
home.  False  here,  where  else  will  you  be 
faithful? 

Abroad,  too,  should  our  influences  for  good 
extend.  Our  words  of  fraternal  greeting  may 
bring  others  near  us  ;  our  words  of  peace  hush 
the  spirit  and  the  voice  of  contention  ;  our  strong 
words  of  encouragement  give  new  life  to  the 
weaker  and  desponding ;  our  words  of  truth  and 
soberness,  right  direction  to  the  reckless  and 
vain.  Our  words,  I  say,  may  do  this.  There  is 
a  mighty  power  in  words.  If  there  are  many 
words  wasted  and  ill-spoken,  by  which  men  are 
rather  injured  than  blessed,  there  are  also  many 
words  unuttered,  for  which  men  are  waiting,  not 
knowing  the  good  which  might  be  thus  easily 
imparted.  It  is  so.  We  need  oftener  to  "  put 
ourselves  out "  a  little,  as  the  saying  goes,  if  we 
can  in  the  right  way,  to  speak  a  few  words  for 
good.  If  many  pay  too  much  attention  to  the 
affairs  of  their  neighbors,  there  are  those  also 


A    SERMON    FOR   EVERY-DAY    LIFE.        285 

who  mind  their  own  business  too  scrupulously 
and  stiffly.  They  have  too  few  words  to  spare ; 
—  words  —  so  cheap  an  article.  Such  penuri- 
ousness  is  intolerable. 

Our  actions  «lso  are  to  come  into  the  account 
here.  A  careful  acquaintance  with  our  own  re- 
sources will  assure  us,  I  think,  that  we  are  not 
yet  in  danger  of  exhausting  them  in  our  attempts 
to  benefit  those  around  us.  Do  we  really  know 
what  we  are  able  to  do  ?  Does  the  rich  man  ? 
Does  the  poor  man?  Do  all?  For  it  is  not 
always  in  the  amount  we  bestow,  but  in  the  dis- 
position which  prompts  the  gift,  that  the  blessing 
is  most  directly  imparted. 

"  As  we  have  opportunity,"  so  are  our  days  to 
be  filled  up  with  all  the  good  we  are  capable  of 
doing.  We  know  not,  when  we  rise  to  our  works 
of  the  day,  what  good  thing  these  works  may 
bring  forth ;  how,  by  God's  wisdom,  and  our 
humble  and  trusting  earnestness,  they  may  bring 
light  out  of  darkness,  and  waken  melodies  that 
will  gladden  us  for  ever.  That  is  a  charming 
incident  related  of  Rev.  George  Herbert,  the 
distinguished  poet  of  England :  —  "In  one  of  his 
walks  to  Salisbury,  to  join  a  musical  society,  he 
saw  a  poor  man,  with  a  poorer  horse  that  had 
fallen  under  his  load.  Putting  off  his  canonical 


286  OUR   BAT. 

coat,  he  helped  him  to  unload,  and  afterwards  to 
load  his  horse.  The  poor  man  blessed  him  for 
it,  and  he  blessed  the  poor  man.  And  so  like 
was  he  to  the  good  Samaritan,  that  he  gave  him 
money  to  refresh  both  himself  and  his  horse  ;  at 
the  same  time  admonishing  him,  that,  if  he  loved 
himself,  he  should  be  merciful  to  his  beast.  So 
leaving  the  poor  man,  and  coming  to  his  musical 
friends,  at  Salisbury,  they  began  to  wonder  that 
Mr.  George  Herbert,  who  always  used  to  be  so 
trim  and  clean,  should  come  into  that  company 
so  soiled  and  discomposed.  But  he  told  them 
the  reason ;  and  one  of  them  said  to  him,  '  He 
had  disparaged  himself  by  so  mean  an  employ- 
ment.' His  answer  was,  he  thought  that  what 
he  had  done  would  prove  music  to  him  at  mid- 
night, and  that  the  omission  of  it  would  have 
made  discord  in  his  conscience  whenever  he 
should  pass  by  that  place.  '  For  if/  said  he,  '  I 
am  bound  to  pray  for  all  who  are  in  distress, 
I  am  surely  bound,  as  far  as  it  is  in  my  power, 
to  practise  what  I  pray  for.  And  although  I  do 
not  wish  for  such  an  occasion  every  day,  yet  let 
me  tell  you  that  I  would  not  willingly  pass  one 
day  of  my  life  without  comforting  a  sad  soul,  or 
showing  mercy ;  and  I  bless  God  for  this  oppor- 
tunity. So  now  let  us  tune  our  instruments.' " 


A    SERMON    FOR    EVERY-DAY   LIFE.        287 

There  are  rich  and  cheering  strains  in  this  his- 
torical relation.  Let  them  not  fall  unheeded  on 
our  ears. 

It  is  not  so  much  the  great  and  signal  deeds 
we  may  do,  as  the  ordinary  and  comparatively 
obscure,  that  meet  the  demand  of  the  text.  The 
great  sum  of  life's  interest  and  enjoyment  is 
made  up  of  littles.  We  are  all  contributors. 
We  all  supply  the  streams.  Our  common  life 
furnishes,  in  its  most  ordinary  calls,  pursuits, 
exertions,  the  elements  of  enjoyment  or  affliction. 
None  of  us  are  so  obscure,  none  so  destitute  of 
influence,  as  not  to  be  able  to  say  or  do  some- 
thing, every  day,  that  shall  tend  to  render  some 
other  happier  or  better.  Let  no  one,  then,  say 
wistfully,  or  in  doubt  or  hesitancy,  What  can  I 
do  in  a  world  where  so  much  is  to  be  accom- 
plished, —  where  wrong  is  so  bold,  sin  so  strong, 
evil  so  abounding?  Friend,  "be  not  faithless, 
but  believing."  You  may  do  much.  Rather  let 
your  question  be,  What  may  I  not  do  ?  What 
evil,  what  wrong,  what  ill,  is  so  mighty,  that  by 
some  means  my  influence  may  not  reach  and 
contribute  to  weaken  it  ?  You  have  heard  of 
the  sweet  singer  in  the  discordant  choir,  who 
sang  on  amid  that  musical  jargon,  till  the  whole 
choir  was  in  perfect  harmony  with  his  one  voice. 
Only  do  what  you  can,  and  not  wish,  and  hope, 


288    .  OUR   DAT. 

and  talk  merely,  and  think  that  others  may  ac- 
complish. Only  make  the  true  endeavor,  and 
see  what  saddening  discord  you  may  resolve  into 
sweet  and  living  harmony ! 

Once  more.  Have  strongest  faith  in  practical 
goodness.  Limit  not  its  power.  Deem  no  pro- 
fession —  no  talk  of  religious  opinions,  a  substi- 
tute for  it.  "  Faith  without  works  is  dead,  being 
alone."  Faith  and  works  shall  remove  the 
mountain,  and  cast  it  into  the  sea.  "  That  which 
is  most  wanting,"  says  Goodwin  Barmby,  "  should 
be  most  tried  after.  All  things  are  possible  to 
faith." 

Reader,  if  thou  canst  preach  thyself  a  better 
sermon  from  this  text,  then  heaven  be  praised. 
I  can  tell  thee  that  thou  mayest.  Be  THY  LIFE 
this  sermon.  So  shall  thy  God,  and  Christ,  and 
all  good  angels  of  heaven  and  earth  —  so  shall 
thy  peaceful  conscience  say,  Amen. 


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